Prague, May 24 (CTK) – The Czech Republic should restore its embassy in Singapore because this corresponds to its trade interests, President Milos Zeman said after meeting his Singaporean counterpart Tony Tan yesterday.
He said he will turn to Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek in this respect.
“I have found out that we had an embassy in Singapore, but we closed it down in order to economise. Since then, Singapore has been covered by our embassy in Indonesia, while our trade with it is higher than trade with Indonesia. This means that we should redress this mistake,” Zeman said.
The Czech Republic shut down its Singapore embassy in 2008. Since then, it has had an honorary consulate in the country.
Zeman said he will tell Zaoralek that he might “abolish the embassy in Upper Volta…and reopen the embassy in Singapore because this corresponds to our economic interests,” Zeman said.
Upper Volta is a historical name of Burkina Faso that was used until 1984. The Czech Republic does not have an embassy in the country and its interests are represented by the embassy in Ghana.
Zeman also said Singapore is still called the Asian tiger and he came out in favour of boosting trade relations with it.
Agreements between the Confederation of Industry, the Czech Trade Agency and their Singaporean counterparts were signed at Prague Castle, the presidential seat, today.
An agreement signed between Charles University and Singapore’s University provides for strengthening scientific exchange.
Tan said Singapore considers the Czech Republic a gate to Central and Eastern Europe. That is why bilateral relations should be boosted. Tan invited Zeman to visit Singapore.
