Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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161. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has spoken with the Singapore Foreign Minister to date in 2021. [38289/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland and Singapore have enjoyed close and fruitful diplomatic relations since 1974. Ireland's resident Embassy in Singapore, which was opened in 2000, is now located together with regional offices for IDA Ireland, Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland within an "Ireland House".

Singapore remains one of the most economically and politically important countries in South East Asia and cooperation between our nations flourishes in the areas of education, trade, investment, culture and tourism, among others. There is considerable scope for economic ties to develop further and I am pleased to note a 4.4% increase in goods exports to Singapore between 2019 and 2020.

While I have not spoken directly with Minister Balakrishnan yet this year, my Department engages continually with Singapore on a range of bilateral and multilateral priorities. Singapore is a key member of ASEAN and at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 21 June, I highlighted the importance of increased bilateral engagement with ASEAN member states as well as regional engagement with ASEAN following the recently agreed ASEAN/EU Strategic Partnership.