Mayor’s farewell gift

Press, 23 June 1981, Page 3

Mayor’s farewell gift

The Singaporean High Commissioner to New Zealand, Mr Harry Chan Keng Howe, was received by the Mayor of Christchurch, Mr Hamish Hay, yesterday. Mr Chan is on his farewell tour of New Zealand before returning to Singapore next month and yesterday he was presented with a book and a tray bearing the Christchurch coat of arms. Mr Hay, who has just returned from a trip to Singapore and Malaysia, talked with Mr Chan about the problems of tourism. Mr Chan considers that the growing middle class in Asia with its increasing disposable income has a good tourist potential for New Zealand. When Mr Chan came to New Zealand in 1974, the i total trade between New

Zealand and Singapore amounted to a bare $44 million. It now amounts to , $340 million, a 'great deal of it accounted for by refined petroleum coming from Singapore to New Zealand. Mr Chan also said that there were now 30 New Zealand firms in Singapore either associated with Singapore firms or on their own account. The latest arrival was of the merchant bank, Marac. An important scientific, technological, and industrial agreement was signed between New Zealand and Singapore in 1976. A link has been established between the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Singapore scientific and industrial research body. Mr Chan said that Singa-

pore had greatly appreciated for psychological reasons the stationing of the New Zealand battalion in Singapore. Now he considers that the timing of its withdrawal is up to the New Zealand Government. Besides dealing with bi- r lateral matters affecting New Zealand and Singapore, Mr Chan has dealt extensively with matters affecting the countries of the Associa-. tion of South-East Asian Nations (A.S.E.A.N.). He has contributed towards bringing about a greater awareness of A.S.E.A.N. in New Zealand. In the last two years Mr Chan has been dean of the Diplomatic Corp. Mr Chan has been appointed his country's first Ambassador to Egypt and

will be accredited to a number of other Middle East countries. Before he came to New Zealand he served in Cambodia from 1971 to 1972, then returned to the Foreign Ministry in Singapore for two years before his appointment to New Zealand.