July 30, 2011 -- Singapore -- An AJC leadership delegation has concluded a three-day trip to the island nation.

The visiting group met with senior officials at Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Permanent Secretary and Minister of State, as well as the American, Australian and Israeli Ambassadors to Singapore, prominent intellectual and opinion leaders, and the vibrant Jewish community.

Topics of discussion with senior government officials covered developments in the region, the growing role of Asia in global affairs, Singapore-U.S. and Singapore-Israel bilateral relations.

The journey was the first official AJC diplomatic mission to Singapore, but comes after many years of engagement with Singapore's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York and its embassy in Washington, D.C. AJC meetings with Singapore's Foreign Minister have long been an annual occurrence during the opening of the UN General Assembly, and former Foreign Minister George Yeo participated in AJC's Global Forum in Washington on two occasions.

"Our time in Singapore left an indelible impression," said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who led the 12-member delegation. "To fully appreciate the success and lessons to be learned from Singapore's multi-ethnic society, economic dynamism, and strategic thinking, one has to see it first-hand.  We were also struck and gratified by the breadth and depth of relations between Singapore and the U.S., as well as the mutually beneficial links between Israel and Singapore, which date back to the country's independence in 1965."

The trip was coordinated under the auspices of AJC's Washington-based Asia Pacific Institute, directed by Jim Busis, and assisted by Yael Amit, AJC's Southeast Asia representative. Joining the AJC delegation was Dr. Colin Rubinstein, executive director of AIJAC, AJC's longstanding partner organization in Australia.