New Permanent Representative of Singapore Presents Credentials

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, Burhan Gafoor, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Gafoor served as Singapore’s High Commissioner to Australia from 2014.  He also served as the country’s Ambassador and Chief Negotiator for United Nations Climate Change Negotiations from 2010 to 2014.

Between 2007 and 2010, he was Singapore’s Ambassador to France, and from 2004 to 2007 he served as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

Having joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 1988, Mr. Gafoor has held several other positions, including that of Press Secretary to former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong from 2002 to 2004.  He represented his country as President of the Diplomatic Conference of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2006 and as Chairman of the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development, World Trade Organization, from 2006 to 2007.

Mr. Gafoor holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore, a master’s in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a degree in public administration from the École nationale d’administration in Paris.

Born on 20 October 1965, he is married and has two sons.