Chamber Members meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron

British High Commissioner H E Scott Wightman CMG hosted a reception at Eden Hall on 28 Jul to welcome The Right Honourable David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which underpinned the long and robust partnership between the UK and Singapore.

During his visit to Singapore, Mr Cameron was accompanied by the United Kingdom’s

Secretary of State for Business, Innovations & Skills Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change Amber Rudd, Minister of State for Trade & Investment Francis Maude, Minister of State for Small Business, Industry & Enterprise Anna Soubry, senior officials, and two business delegations.

The reception was also attended by Singapore’s Minister from the Prime

Minister’s Office Ms Grace Fu, delegates from the UK, business leaders in

Singapore, as well as Chamber members.

In her speech, Ms Fu highlighted Singapore’s resilience through the global financial crisis and cited ‘FutureEverything Singapore’ as an example of Singapore-UK partnership.

FutureEverything Singapore is a weeklong digital festival taking place from 5–13 Sep 2015 as part of the SG50 celebrations, with the aim to celebrate SG50 by envisioning the impact of technology in the future. This is a partnership between IDA Singapore and an award-winning digital company based in Manchester, UK. Ms Fu encouraged everyone at the reception to explore business opportunities both countries had to offer.

Of the visit, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented, “Prime Minister Cameron’s visit reaffirms the strong bilateral ties between Singapore and the United Kingdom as the two countries commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.”

Following Ms Fu’s speech, Mr Cameron highlighted the importance of Singapore on UK’s prosperity agenda, and reflected on the historical ties between both countries. He congratulated Singapore on its 50th Anniversary and commended the country’s growth over the last five decades.

He urged everyone to look at the UK in a new way, citing “Britain is Back and Britain means Business,” which underlines the economic growth and progress of the UK among the G7 nations in the recent past.

The reception also showcased artwork by UK Singaporean artist Sarah Choo Jing, Singapore-based artist Boedi Widjaja, and UK artist Brendan Neiland.