Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Ministry of Foreign Affairs - About MFA

Vision | Mission | Values | Organisation | Location | History & Achievements

Vision

To be an excellent Foreign Service that safeguards and advances Singapore's interests

Mission

MFA is committed to:

a) Contributing to the formulation and implementation of Singapore's foreign policy to advance our national interests

b) Making friends and being a responsible and constructive member of the international community, including sharing Singapore's developmental experience with other countries

c)Providing efficient and responsive consular assistance to Singaporeans at home and abroad

Values

Duty - loyalty in service of country
Dedication - commitment to MFA's mission
Integrity - honesty in the execution of our work
Professionalism - pride in work and objectivity in providing advice
Dynamism - creative and responsive to change
Teamwork - work as a team within MFA and in partnership with other agencies
People-oriented - respect and value every individual and his or her contributions

Organisation

MFA is divided into 17 directorates. The Policy, Planning & Analysis Directorates deal with political and economic matters relating to different regions of the world. The Functional Directorates deal with matters pertaining to protocol, consular work, public affairs, information management and the Singapore Cooperation Programme. The Corporate Affairs and Human Resource Directorates are concerned with the running of MFA, dealing with matters such as personnel, training, finance and office services. One third of our staff serve in the MFA's 45 overseas missions in Asia, Europe, North America, the South Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

Biographical Summaries and Curricula Vitae:

MFA Staff Directory

The MFA Staff Directory can be accessed at the Singapore Government Directory Online.

Location

Address: Tanglin, Singapore 248163
Telephone: 6 379 8000
Fax: 6 474 7885
Email: mfa@mfa.gov.sg

Please click here for location map of MFA
MFA moved into its own building in Tanglin on a 3.8 hectare site at Tanglin in May 2001. The site of this building housed the General Headquarters of the British Far East Land Forces from 1945 to 1971. The conserved part of the building, the Old Tanglin Officers' Mess, was built in 1934, and served as Singapore Ministry of Defence Headquarters from 1972-1989. A modern office block behind houses function rooms, staff offices and other amenities.

MFA was previously located at City Hall (1965-1987) and Raffles City (1987-2001).

Ink Drawing of the new MFA building by LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts

History & Achievements

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was established on August 1965 when Singapore gained independence. The following are some milestone events:

1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000 till present

1960s

9 Aug 1965	Independence of Singapore. Formation of MFA. Mr S Rajaratnam was appointed as Singapore's first Foreign Minister.
21 Sep 1965	Singapore admitted as 117th member of the United Nations.
15 Oct 1965	Singapore admitted as 22nd member of the Commonwealth.
End 1965	First two overseas missions established in Kuala Lumpur and New York (United Nations).
8 Aug 1967	Founding of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Signing of ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok.

1970s

Sep 1970	Singapore admitted into the Non-Aligned Movement.
14-22 Jan 1971	Singapore hosted the 18th Conference of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (the first to be held in Asia and the first full-scale Conference to be held outside London).
Apr 1971	Signing of the Five Power Defence Agreement (with UK, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand).
1973	Singapore joins General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
24 Feb 1976	First ASEAN Summit held in Bali, Indonesia. The treaty of unity and cooperation was signed by all ASEAN foreign ministers. The agreement on an establishment of an ASEAN Secretariat.
1978	Watershed year for ASEAN, marked by the official recognition of ASEAN as an important regional organisation by the major powers. The first ministerial level meetings of the ASEAN-US dialogue were held in Aug 78 and the ASEAN-EEC dialogue in Nov 78.

1980s

1 Jun 1980	Mr S Dhanabalan becomes Foreign Minister.
Mar 1981	Singapore's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Tommy Koh, assumed the Presidency of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.
21 Dec 1987	Ministry of Foreign Affairs moves from City Hall to Raffles City.
Sep 1988	Mr Wong Kan Seng takes over as Foreign Minister.
Nov 1989	1st Ministerial Meeting on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Canberra, Australia

1990s

1992	Launch of the Singapore Cooperation Programme.
Jan 1992	Singapore hosted the 4th ASEAN Summit, which agreed to launch the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
1993	Singapore assisted Botswana in setting up the BNPC. It has become a regional training centre on productivity, serving the productivity movement training needs in southern Africa.
Jan 1993	APEC Secretariat set up in Singapore.
20 Nov 1993	First APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) held in Blake Island, Seattle, US.
1994	ASEAN agree to create the ASEAN Regional Forum.
2 Jan 1994	Prof S Jayakumar becomes Foreign Minister.
1 Jan 1995	Inauguration of World Trade Organisation (WTO) as the successor of GATT. Singapore's Perm Rep to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador K Kesavapany is elected for a one-year term as Chairman of the General Council, the highest policy making body of the WTO.
Dec 1995	Fifth ASEAN Summit held in Bangkok. Attended for the first time by all the 10 Southeast Asian Heads of Government.
1-2 Mar 1996	Inaugural Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Bangkok (first mooted by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in Oct 1994).
Nov 1996	1st Informal ASEAN Summit held in Jakarta
9-13 Dec 1996	Singapore hosts the 1st WTO Ministerial Conference.
14-15 Feb 1997	Singapore hosts 1st ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
15 Feb 1997	Launch of Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) in Singapore.
1998	Singapore Scholarship (SS) provides undergraduate scholarship to students from member countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Sep 1998	Singapore began its first 2-year term as a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
30 Apr 1999	Cambodia is admitted into ASEAN, fulfilling the ASEAN founding fathers' vision of establishing an organisation for all Southeast Asian countries.
1 Sep 1999	Singapore hosts inaugural meeting of the East Asia-Latin America Forum (EALAF) for senior officials of 27 participating countries. (The EALAF was renamed the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) in 2001).

2000 till present

2000	Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) was launched as a human resource development framework to assist the integration of new member countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) into ASEAN. The flagship project was the setting up of a training centre in each of the CLMV countries.
10 Oct 2000	Singapore was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at the 55th session of the UN General Assembly.
14 Nov 2000	Signing of Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership (ANZSCEP). This is Singapore's first bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
22-25 Nov 2000	Singapore hosted the 4th ASEAN Informal Summit.
1 Jan 2001	Singapore starts its first two-year term in the United Nations Security Council.
8 May 2001	Ministry of Foreign Affairs moves to Tanglin.
13 Jan 2002	The Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement is signed.
26 Jun 2002	Singapore concluded a FTA with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. This is the first FTA between a European regional grouping and an Asian country.
5 Nov 2002	1st ASEAN-India Summit held in Phnom Penh.
17 Feb 2003	The Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement is signed.
6 May 2003	Singapore concludes and signs the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USFTA). This is the first FTA between the US and an East Asian country.
7 Oct 2003	9th ASEAN Summit in Bali agreed to establish an ASEAN Community.
16 May 2004	The Singapore-Jordan Free Trade Agreement is signed.
10 Jul 2004	The SIngapore-India Partnership Foundation is launched in New Delhi.
13 Aug 2004	Mr George Yeo becomes Foreign Minister.
Dec 2004	MFA assists Singaporeans during the tsunami crisis.
26 Apr 2005	Singapore signs the Settlement Agreement of the Case Concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor.
28 Apr 2005	Singapore signs the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
Jun 2005	Singapore hosted the inaugural Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED).
17 Nov 2005	ASEAN and the US issue Joint Vision Statement to launch the ASEAN-US Enhanced Partnership.
10 Feb 2006	MFA launches the book, "The Singapore Foreign Service: The First 40 Years" .
27-29 Mar 2006	Singapore hosted the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Seminar on Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Sep 2006	Singapore hosted the IMF-World Bank Meetings.
13 Jan 2007	The Eminent Persons Group (EPG) releases ASEAN Charter report.
14 Jan 2007	ASEAN signs Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015.
15 Jan 2007	ASEAN signs free trade agreement in services with China.
28 Jan 2007	Launch of ASEAN Rocks!
4-6 Sep 2007	Singapore hosts the IMO Meeting which establishes the Co-operative Mechanism for Safety Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore
18-21 Sep 2007	Singapore hosts the 13th ASEAN Summit. During the Summit, ASEAN Leaders sign the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint. With the Charter, ASEAN moves a step closer towards becoming a more rules-based and effective regional grouping, while the Blueprint guides ASEAN towards the realisation of a single market and production base by 2015.
18 Nov 2007	Singapore and China sign the Framework Agreement on the Development of an Eco-City in the People's Republic of China
7 Jan 2008	Singapore is the first ASEAN country to ratify the ASEAN Charter.
19 May 2008	ASEAN Foreign Ministers meet in Singapore discuss efforts to assist Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.
17-24 Jul 2008	Singapore hosts the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM)