Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts, 36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963. Tel: 3757794/5

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

THE SINGAPORE-LUXEMBOURG

THIRD COUNTRY TRAINING PROGRAMME

Singapore and Luxembourg have agreed to establish a Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) to assist developing countries in their human resource development. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr Georges Wohlfart, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg.

This TCTP agreement is a direct result of a proposal made by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to Luxembourg Prime Minister Juncker during his visit to Luxembourg in October 1996. It marks the commitment of Singapore and Luxembourg to pool their resources, experience and expertise to address the needs of developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Significantly, it shows that two small countries can combine resources for the greater benefit of developing countries.

The first project planned under this TCTP agreement is a course on hotel management and operations for Vietnamese officials sometime in August or September 1997. Other possible fields of technical cooperation in which both countries have common expertise are tourism, financial services, health, civil aviation, port management, telecommunications, environmental management, productivity and information technology.

The Singapore-Luxembourg TCTP will be jointly administered by the Technical Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

19 APRIL 1997