Lutfey holds bilateral talks with Singapore ministers

At the invitation of Grace Foo, Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Siddiqi also joined a high-level dinner at the Singapore Grand Prix on October 5.

Apart from Minister Foo, Siddiqi was greeted at his table by Minister for Manpower, Science and Technology Dr. Tan See Leng, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Gan Siow Huang; and Senior Minister of State for Transport Murali Pillai.

In addition, he exchanged views about Bangladesh and global trends with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister & Former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah and State Minister of National Development Alvin Tan.

At the same event, he reconnected with private sector leaders, including Ray Dalio, CEO of Grab Anthony Tan, CEO of Antler Magnus Grimeland, CEO of GIC Lim Chow Kiat, CEO of Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) Loh Boon Chye, Asia Chairman of Evercore Keith Magnus and Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce Anindya Bakrie, amongst others.

He rounded up the visit with bilateral meetings with Chairman of Enterprise Singapore Lee Chuan Teck, Regional CEO of PSA (Ports) Vincent Ng, and Regional Lead of PayPal Amir Valliani, said the Chief Adviser’s press wing on Tuesday.

The Special Envoy took the opportunity to provide first-hand updates and answer questions on developments in Bangladesh and pursue areas of collaboration with both the public and private sectors.

He also thanked Singapore for the support and engagement on multiple fronts.

In a social media post recounting his meeting with Special Envoy Siddiqi, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said,

“With a young and hard-working population, Bangladesh has immense potential. It is undergoing a new phase of political and economic transformation and is implementing reforms, diversifying its economy, and seeking investments in renewable energy, digital innovation, and connectivity … Singapore looks forward to working closely with Bangladesh as it pursues its next phase of growth and development.”

Special Envoy Siddiqi also gave an interview to Channel News Asia, where he highlighted online disinformation as a lingering risk, especially in the run-up to elections, and underscored the need for everyone to remain alert to that.

He spoke to colleagues at the Bangladesh High Commission and members of the migrant workers' community to get an update on service levels.

Appointments for ePassport biometrics are now available within twenty-four hours. Just a couple of months ago, the waiting time was longer than four months, and there was an overhang of over twelve thousand applications.

Besides, the requirement to get work visas (“IPAs”) physically endorsed at the High Commission has been suspended, removing a burden on Bangladeshi workers and their employers.

Special Envoy Siddiqi had earlier worked with Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and Expatriates’ Affairs Advisor Asif Nazrul to resolve these two issues, reports UNB.