SINGAPORE: President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will make a working visit to New York from Nov 27 to Dec 4, his office said on Sunday (Nov 26).
During his visit, he will deliver a lecture and engage in a dialogue at Columbia University as part of its World Leaders Forum series.
Mr Tharman will also meet United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as several financial sector leaders.
He will also chair the UN Human Development Report Advisory Board and a Group of Thirty (G30) plenary hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The G30 is an independent global council of economic and financial leaders.
The President will also meet a group of Singaporeans based in the United States.
Officials from the President’s Office will accompany Mr Tharman on the trip. In his absence, Mr Eddie Teo, the chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers, will exercise the functions of the office of President, the President’s Office added.
Mr Tharman was sworn in at the Istana on Sep 14 as Singapore’s ninth President after a landslide election victory. He won more than 70 per cent of the vote.
Earlier this week, parliament approved a legal framework for the President and ministers to hold roles in foreign and global organisations in their private capacities, if it is in the national interest.
Mr Tharman, a former Senior Minister, had resigned from all positions in the government and the People’s Action Party to stand in the election on Sep 1.
He has been chairman of the board of trustees of the G30 since 2017. Mr Tharman also sits on the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees.
He co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, which makes recommendations to the United Nations and other international forums, as well as the advisory board for the UN Human Development Report.