The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection (SSUFSCP) and the Food Agency of the Republic of Singapore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of food safety to facilitate mutual trade in imports, exports and re-exports, the press service of the Ukrainian agency reports.
According to the report, the parties also intend to promote the expansion of bilateral cooperation in the field of control, prevention and eradication of animal diseases in accordance with the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
“The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection continues to work towards expanding the sales of Ukrainian products in the international arena. And the memorandum between the competent authorities of Ukraine and Singapore is one of the steps to make even more different categories of Ukrainian food available in Asian markets. Currently, there are 5 markets in Singapore, and we are not stopping there,” commented the head of the department, Serhiy Tkachuk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue conference, which is a key platform for security issues in the Asia-Pacific region and to hold a number of meetings, in particular with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
“Global security is impossible when the world’s largest country ignores recognized borders, international law and the UN Charter, blackmails with hunger, darkness and nuclear weapons,” the president wrote in his Telegram channel.
According to Zelensky, restoring a just peace in Ukraine, ensuring global food and nuclear security is the task of the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. “That is why it will be important for us to hear the voice of the Asia-Pacific region there,” he said.
According to the head of state, in Singapore he will hold meetings with the president of this state Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta, Singaporean investors, as well as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
As follows from the agenda of the conference, which this year is being held from May 31 to June 2, the Ukrainian president is scheduled to speak on Sunday, June 2.
Among others, the conference will be attended by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun, French Deputy Chief of Defense Staff Pierre Vandieu, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. Zelensky will speak as part of a plenary session on solutions for Global Peace and Regional Stability.
According to media reports, Russia will not participate in the current conference.
The Asian Security Summit “Shangri-La Dialogue” is an annual intergovernmental security forum held by the independent think tank “International Institute for Strategic Studies” (IISS), which is attended by defense ministers, permanent heads of ministries and other military leaders of 28 APR states. The forum takes its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, where it has been held since 2002.
New York has once again taken the top spot in the list of the world’s largest financial centers, according to a survey by Z/Yen Group Ltd. financial advisory company, which calculates the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI).
New York has been in the lead since the fall of 2018. Compared to the previous version of the ranking, published in September last year, New York’s score increased to 764 from 763, and London’s, which ranks second, to 747 from 744.
The top three leaders are still Singapore with 742 points, followed by Hong Kong in fourth place and San Francisco in fifth. Shanghai moved up to sixth place, Geneva to seventh, while Los Angeles slipped two positions to eighth. Chicago retained its ninth place, while Seoul moved up to tenth, displacing Washington.
The most significant rise in the ranking was demonstrated by São Paulo (up 21 places) and Wellington (up 15), while Miami (down 14 places) and Helsinki (down 12 places) showed the sharpest drops.
Among the financial centers of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Astana is in the lead (66th place).
The World Financial Centers Index was first published in 2007 and is updated every six months (the current edition is the 35th). The latest ranking was based on a survey of nearly 8.5 thousand respondents.
Authorities in Singapore have decided to abolish the requirement to present a certificate of vaccination against coronavirus or health insurance covering COVID 19 infection when entering the country, Asian media reported.
Such exemptions will take effect from February 13.
Mask wearing on public transport will be abolished but health care facilities will still require them.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health noted that about 80% of the population has received a minimum level of protection against the coronavirus through vaccination against COVID 19.
Last April, Singapore lifted much of the restrictions in place to combat the coronavirus.
On August 3, the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine agreed with the competent authorities of Singapore on certificates for the export of Ukrainian pet food, the agency’s website reported on Thursday.
“Now the Singapore feed market, which imports more than $170 million annually, has become accessible to Ukrainian producers thanks to the joint work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Food and Consumer Service. The opening of new markets contributes to the development of the national industry, stimulates the creation of new jobs, and therefore makes us stronger,” he quotes State Food and Consumer Service of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.
The corresponding form of the certificate is published on the official website of the department.
Singapore’s Dachex Shipping Pte. Ltd became the winner of the third stage of the procedure for selecting the customer for the processing of customer-supplied raw materials for JSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant.
According to a statement on the plant’s website, the company offered the best additional conditions for cooperation, namely: the conclusion of a financing agreement (interest-free loan) for up to $20 million for a period of two years.
As reported, on April 19, 2021, Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant suspended the procedure for selecting a “customer” at the claim of trader United Energy LLC, part of the Privat Group. At the same time, the plant said that it would appeal this court ruling in order to return to making a decision on the winner of the selection procedure or holding the third stage – negotiations.
First Deputy Head of the State Property Fund (SPF) Denys Kudin told Interfax-Ukraine that the other day the court sided with the enterprise.
Before receiving a court verdict on a pause in the competition, the plant held an electronic tender for the tolling processing of raw materials and shipment of products that day, in which ten companies took part.
ccording to the protocol of the exchange, all 10 participants in the auction offered the lowest possible “zero” coefficient of limit, which is part of the formula for calculating the “additional remuneration.” Accordingly, at the next stage, the plant shall negotiate with all bidders to determine the winner.
