The consultations reviewed bilateral cooperation and regional priorities, including renewable energy, sustainability and ASEAN collaboration.

Second Permanent Secretary (Development) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foo Chi Hsia, and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Anouparb Vongnorkeo, co-chaired the Second Singapore–Lao PDR Bilateral Consultations (SLBC) in Singapore on 21 July 2026.

Ahead of the consultations, deputy Minister Anouparb paid a courtesy call on Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Ms Sim Ann. Both sides reaffirmed the warm bilateral relations between the two countries. Lao PDR President Thongloun Sisoulith also accepted President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s invitation to make a State Visit to Singapore at a mutually convenient time.

The consultations covered cooperation in trade and investment, education, culture, healthcare, green energy, sustainability and efforts to combat transnational crime. Both sides also exchanged views on regional and global developments, reaffirmed their commitment to human capital development, and discussed strengthening cooperation within ASEAN, including in the digital and green economies ahead of Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027.

Source: Singapore Embassy in Vientiane

On 29 April 2025, three Foreign Heads of Mission presented their credentials to President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in separate ceremonies at the Istana, marking their official roles as Ambassadors and High Commissioners to Singapore.

SINGAPORE, 29 April 2025 – In a reaffirmation of Singapore’s commitment to international diplomacy, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam received the credentials of three newly appointed foreign Heads of Mission in separate ceremonies at the Istana. The envoys included His Excellency Vilatsone Visonnavong, Ambassador of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to Singapore; His Excellency Abu Bakarr Karim, High Commissioner of the Republic of Sierra Leone to Singapore; and His Excellency Dhan Bahadur Oli, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal to Singapore.

HIS EXCELLENCY VILATSONE VISONNAVONG
AMBASSADOR OF THE LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC TO SINGAPORE

Before his appointment to Singapore, Ambassador Visonnavong had been serving as Director-General of the Diplomatic Service Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) since 2023. He also served as Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Organizations at the Ministry from 2020 to 2023, and First Secretary and Third Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Lao PDR to the United Nations in New York from 2016 to 2019 and 2008 to 2011, respectively.

Ambassador Visonnavong has held various posts at the Department of International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2000. These include Director of the Research, Coordination and Statistics Division from 2019 to 2020, Director of the International Non-Governmental Organizations Division from 2015 to 2016, and Deputy Director of the United Nations Political and Security Affairs Division from 2012 to 2015. Ambassador Visonnavong has a Master of Arts in International Relations from Flinders University, South Australia, Australia, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, şÚÁĎÉç.

HIS EXCELLENCY DHAN BAHADUR OLI
AMBASSADOR OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF NEPAL TO SINGAPORE

Ambassador Dhan Bahadur Oli is a career diplomat with 27 years’ experience. Ambassador Oli took up post as Ambassador of Nepal to the Kingdom of şÚÁĎÉç in June 2024 and holds concurrent accreditation to Cambodia and the Lao PDR. He is also the Ambassador-designate of Nepal to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Before this, Ambassador Oli served as Joint Secretary of the Regional Organizations Affairs Division and Director General of the Department of Consular Services at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2020 to 2023.

Before that, Ambassador Oli held various positions, including ChargĂ© d’Affaires a.i. and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Nepal in Dhaka, Regional Director at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Secretariat, and First Secretary at the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi. Ambassador Oli holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

HIS EXCELLENCY ABU BAKARR KARIM
HIGH COMMISSIONER OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE TO SINGAPORE

High Commissioner Dr Abu Bakarr Karim has been Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China since January 2024. Apart from Singapore, he is concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Before his current appointment, he was Presidential Adviser on Trade and Investment (2018), Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (2019), and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (2021).

High Commissioner Karim graduated from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases. He holds a degree in Clinical Trials Research, Intensive and Critical Care. He was a healthcare practitioner in Tropical Disease and Nursing, and specialised in Intensive Care Medicine before joining the public sector.

Source: MFA

H.E. SENGKEO POUANGPADITH Ambassador of Lao People’s Democratic Republic

PRIOR to his appointment as the Ambassador of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to the Republic of Singapore H.E. Sengkeo Pouangpadith, had served as the Director-General of Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Ambassador Sengkeo Pouangpadith joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993. He has accumulated experiences in his diplomatic career in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy over the last 28 years. Throughout the course of his career, he was affiliated with Europe and Americas Department, Economy Affairs Department, International Organisations Department and Protocol Department. He had served as the Attaché and Third Secretary at the Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in Warsaw, Republic of Poland, from 1998 to 2004, and as the Counsellor at the Embassy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines, from 2009 to 2010.

Ambassador Sengkeo Pouangpadith holds a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in International Law from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, class of 1992. He speaks English and Russian, and is married with two sons and one daughter.

H.E. COLETTE TAQUET Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium

PRIOR to her accreditation to Singapore, Ambassador Colette Taquet was Director in the General Directorate of European Affairs in the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs (FPSFA). She had worked on issues such as the reform of legislation on migration and asylum legislation, COVID-19 crisis management, matters related to the security and free movement of people in the European Union, as well as legislation on the fight against online terrorist content, the protection of whistle blowers and recognition of e-evidence.

Ambassador Taquet has held several positions at the Belgian FPSFA, including that as Belgium’s Ambassador to Cyprus, Lebanon, as well as Poland and Lithuania. Ambassador Taquet has a degree in Political Science and a specialisation in International Law from Université Libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels).

She holds the Medal of the Commander of Leopold’s Order (Kingdom of Belgium) and the Medal of Commander of the Order of Merit (Republic of Poland).

H.E. ABDULLAH MOHAMMED ALMADHI Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

PRIOR to his accreditation to Singapore, he was Assistant General Director and later General Director at the General Directorate of African Affairs, and Ambassador, General Director at the General Directorate of Inspection and Follow-up and concurrently, Ambassador and General Supervisor of the Internal Audit Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh from 2017 to March 2021.

Ambassador Abdullah AlMadhi, 57, is a career diplomat. A m b a s s a d o r Abdullah AlMadhi joined the Saudi Foreign Service in 1987 as an Attaché and was posted to several countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe in positions such as Second Secretary and Deputy Head of Consular at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila from 1993 to 1997, and Second Secretary and Head of Consular Affairs Department at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Doha. He was appointed as First Secretary at the General Directorate of Bilateral Economic Affairs and First Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Representative to General Investment Authority from 1999 to 2002. He held the post of First Secretary and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Prague from 2002 to 2004 and First Secretary and Head of Consular at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Damascus from 2004 to 2008. He held the post of Counsellor at the General Directorate of Bilateral Economic Affairs at the Ministry and concurrently held the post of Counsellor at the HRH Foreign Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2013. He was the Saudi Ambassador in Pretoria from 2013 to 2017.

Born on 18 November 1963 in Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Abdullah AlMadhi graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography in 1986 from King Saud University in Riyadh. In 1992, he obtained a Diploma in Diplomatic Studies from Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh.