Singapore's President Receives Abdullah bin Zayed

Visiting UAE Foreign Minister H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan attended a dinner banquet hosted by President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam, in honor of heads of delegations and key officials who are participating in the 12th Asia Security Summit (The Shangri-La Dialogue 2013), which will continue till the second of June.

Sheikh Abdullah conveyed to Singaporean President greetings of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and UAE's keenness to boost bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.

Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the importance of bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields, including the need to enhance economic and trade relations, particularly in the energy and investment sectors.

For his part, President Yam asked Sheikh Khalifa to communicate his regards to President Khalifa, stressing his country's desire to strengthen ties with the UAE, for which Singapore gives extra care due to the prominent international stature of the UAE. During the meeting, they discussed ties between the two countries in addition to a variety of issues of mutual interest.

Earlier, Sheikh Abdullah has participated in the summit, where John Chipman, Director-General and Chief Executive, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), has delivered a keynote speech, in which he affirmed the importance of Asian Security Summit as an inevitable event for the region's security structure in Asia and the Pacific Ocean countries.

He added that the Summit would avail an opportunity for ministers and senior officials to discuss the current and future security, and political issues as well. He also discussed with U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, topics related to the U.S. approach towards regional Security.

Sheikh Abdulla's participation in the summit comes within the UAE's commitment to promote international security cooperation and increase security transparency. It also highlights the UAE's interest to maintain security and strength all its means in the Asian and Pacific Ocean region, which is indivisible from the security of the Gulf region.

Members of the delegation accompanying Sheikh Abdullah held a series of dialogues with defence leaders from other countries aimed at enhancing mutual confidence and means of joint cooperation and understanding in order to achieve safe security environment.