Meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone and the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Development of the Republic of Singapore

After exchange of courtesies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone recalled his previous meeting with his counterpart of Singapore. He stressed the need for Sierra Leone to learn from the experience of Singapore in its transition from a small country to attaining the status of a developing country.

The Foreign Minister informed the meeting about his government's commitment in developing human capital, which he stated that is vital to economic growth. To this end, he requested the granting of 50 scholarships annual for a period of five years to enable Sierra Leonean students to study in Singapore.

The Sierra Leone Foreign Minister also informed the meeting about Sierra Leone’s candidature for election to the Non-permanent category of UNSC, and solicited support from Singapore and extended same to its allies.

In response, the Minister of State of Singapore pledged to support Sierra Leone’s candidacy for the Non-permanent category of the UNSC and also requested the Sierra Leone Foreign Minister to support Singapore’s candidature for election to the International Civil Aviation.

She extended invite to the Sierra Leone Foreign Minister to visit developmental sectors in Singapore.   

She informed the meeting about the Singapore Skills Future Career Transition Programme, which supports mid-career individuals in acquiring industry-relevant skills. She noted that Sierra Leone is benefiting from the programme.    

 Action Points:

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to collaborate with the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation with the view to map out technology need assessments. Once work on the technology need assessments is complete, the Embassy in Ankara should facilitate the visit of the Executive Director of the United Nations Technology Bank before the third quarter of this year.

2. The Embassy in Ankara to collaborate with the United Nations Technology Bank to enable the latter facilitate the process of transferring technologies from Turkey to Sierra Leone, by way of developing an MOU.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to facilitate the visit to Sierra Leone of high level trade and investment delegation from Cuba, which should focus on key developmental sectors.

4. The Embassy in Ankara to visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with the view to following up on the request made by the Foreign Ministry for the granting of 50 scholarships annually to Sierra Leonean students for a period of five years, as well as facilitating an exchange visit to Sierra Leone and Northern Cyprus of trade and investment delegation respectively.

5. The Ambassador in Ankara to collaborate with his counterpart of Northern Cyprus to enhance cooperation in the areas of tourism and culture.

6. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to facilitate the granting of 50 scholarships annually for a period of five years, and the visit to Sierra Leone of trade and investment delegation from Venezuela. The delegation will focus on various sectors of development such as but not limited to tourism, health, education, infrastructure and agriculture.

7. Venezuela to support Sierra Leone’s candidacy for a seat on the Non-Permanent category of the UNSC and to also lobby their allies and friends to lend same support to Sierra Leone on the understanding that Sierra Leone supports the candidacy of Venezuela for election to the Human Rights Council.

8. The Minister of Technical and Higher Education of Sierra Leone to visit Venezuela.

9. Singapore to support Sierra Leone’s candidacy for a seat on the Non-Permanent category of the UNSC and to also lobby their allies and friends to lend same support to Sierra Leone on the understanding that Sierra Leone supports the candidacy of Singapore for election to the International Civil Aviation.

10. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to facilitate the granting of 50 scholarships annually for a period of five years to study in Singapore, and the working visit to Singapore of the Foreign Minister.