From Qatar to Ottawa: Vivian Balakrishnan on 2-day official visit to Canada

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who is on a two-day working visit to Qatar until Sept 17, will travel to Ottawa, Canada, for a two-day official visit from Sept 17 to 18.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on Wednesday (Sept 16) evening that the visit comes at the invitation of his Canadian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand.

"Minister Balakrishnan’s visit builds on a series of high-level exchanges and demonstrates both countries’ commitment to deepening cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as emerging technologies, energy and food security, two-way investment, and supply chain resilience," MFA said.

While in Canada, Dr Balakrishnan will be hosted to lunch by Anand and will also meet Canada's Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon.

The Canadian minister is also the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

During his visit, Dr Balakrishnan will also meet Canadian academics, business leaders and government officials.

He will be accompanied by officials from MFA during the visit.

Singapore-Canada relations

Canada was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with Singapore after its independence in 1965.

Since then, ties between the two countries have developed across a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, security and defence, environmental sustainability, culture and arts, education, science and technology, and innovation.

The two countries are also strong supporters of the international rules-based order as well as free and open trade, and work closely in multilateral forums such as the Arctic Council, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

In 2024, bilateral merchandise trade totalled $3.7 billion, up from $3.2 billion in 2023.

Canada’s merchandise exports were $2.2 billion, while imports from Singapore totalled $1.5 billion, according to Canadian government data.

Dr Balakrishnan was in Qatar to co-chair the third iteration of the Qatar-Singapore Implementation Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) with Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi.

The IMM is a platform for the two countries to follow up on bilateral initiatives in the areas of information and communications technology, security, business, legal cooperation and sustainability. It was established under the Qatar-Singapore High-Level Joint Committee.

This was launched during Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani's state visit to Singapore in 2017, with then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the Qatari Emir agreeing that the IMM would serve as a channel for ministries and agencies from the two countries to work more closely and effectively together.

In its earlier statement, MFA had said that the two foreign ministers would review the progress of bilateral cooperation and identify opportunities to further deepen cooperation between the two countries.

外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南博士正在卡塔尔进行为期两天的工作访问，访问将持续到9月17日。之后，他将于9月17日至18日前往加拿大渥太华进行为期两天的正式访问。

新加坡外交部周三（9月16日）晚间发表声明称，此次访问是应加拿大外交部长阿妮塔·阿南德的邀请进行的。

外交部表示：“巴拉克里希南部长此次访问建立在一系列高层交流的基础上，表明两国致力于深化在共同感兴趣的领域（如新兴技术、能源和粮食安全、双向投资和供应链韧性）的合作。”

在加拿大期间，巴拉克里希南博士将接受阿南德的午餐款待，还将与加拿大人工智能和数字创新部长埃文·所罗门会面。

这位加拿大部长同时也是负责安大略省南部联邦经济发展署的部长。

访问期间，巴拉克里希南博士还将与加拿大学者、商界领袖和政府官员会面。

访问期间，他将有外交部官员陪同。

新加坡-加拿大关系

加拿大是新加坡1965年独立后最早与其建立外交关系的国家之一。

此后，两国关系在贸易和投资、安全和国防、环境可持续性、文化和艺术、教育、科学技术和创新等广泛领域得到了发展。

两国也是以规则为基础的国际秩序以及自由开放贸易的坚定支持者，并在北极理事会、亚太经济合作组织（APEC）、东南亚国家联盟（东盟）、世界贸易组织（WTO）和国际民用航空组织（ICAO）等多边论坛中密切合作。

2024年，双边商品贸易总额为37亿美元，高于2023年的32亿美元。

根据加拿大政府的数据，加拿大商品出口额为22亿美元，而从新加坡进口的商品总额为15亿美元。

Balakrishnan 博士在卡塔尔与卡塔尔外交部长苏丹·本·萨阿德·穆莱基 (Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi) 共同主持卡塔尔-新加坡实施监测机制 (IMM) 第三次迭代。

信息与通信技术合作机制（IMM）是两国跟进信息通信技术、安全、商业、法律合作和可持续发展等领域双边倡议的平台。该机制是在卡塔尔-新加坡高级别联合委员会的框架下设立的。

该机制于 2017 年卡塔尔埃米尔谢赫·塔明·本·哈马德·阿勒萨尼对新加坡进行国事访问期间启动，时任新加坡总理李显龙和卡塔尔埃米尔一致认为，该机制将作为两国各部委和机构更紧密、更有效地合作的渠道。

外交部此前曾表示，两国外长将审查双边合作进展情况，并寻找进一步深化两国合作的机会。