MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRESS STATEMENT: THE NINTH PLENARY MEETING OF THE CONTACT GROUP ON PIRACY OFF THE COAST OF SOMALIA, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK 14 JULY 2011

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRESS STATEMENT: THE NINTH PLENARY MEETING OF THE CONTACT GROUP ON PIRACY OFF THE COAST OF SOMALIA, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK 14 JULY 2011

Singapore chaired the 9th Plenary Meeting of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 14 July 2011. The CGPCS was established in January 2009 (pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1851) as a forum to facilitate discussion and coordination of actions among states and organisations to suppress piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. There are currently 53 countries and several international organisations and shipping industry associations participating in the CGPCS.

At the Plenary Meeting, chaired by Ambassador Mary Seet-Cheng, Senior Specialist Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there was wide-ranging discussion on various international efforts to address the scourge of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin region. The issues discussed included naval counter-piracy operations, efforts to strengthen the region's capacity for prosecution and incarceration of pirates, the importance of self-protection measures by commercial vessels during transit in high-risk zones, and the need for a comprehensive response to address the ongoing instability in Somalia which is one of the underlying causes of Somali piracy. The Plenary also established a new working group to coordinate international efforts to identify and disrupt the financial networks of pirate leaders and their financiers. The Communique issued at the end of the Plenary Meeting is attached.

Singapore announced at the Plenary Meeting that it was working with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre in Singapore to develop a workshop to enhance information sharing capacity among the littoral States of the Somali Basin, involving in particular the counter-piracy information sharing centres based in Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen recently established under the auspices of the Djibouti Code of Conduct.

Singapore also recently successfully completed its second command of the multinational Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, which operates as part of the international counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden. In April 2011, the Singapore Armed Forces also deployed a Republic of Singapore Air Force Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, under the ambit of the CTF 151, to help deter and disrupt piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden. Singapore is also planning to deploy a task group for the third time, comprising a Landing Ship Tank with two helicopters embarked to the Gulf of Aden under the ambit of the CTF 151 later this year.

These contributions continue to underscore Singapore's strong commitment to the international fight against piracy.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
15 JULY 2011