Conferment of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun on H.E. Prof. S Jayakumar, Former Deputy Prime Minister
	The Japanese government announced on 29th April that it would confer the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun on H.E. Prof. Shunmugam Jayakumar, Former Deputy Prime Minister, on the occasion of the spring conferment of Japanese Decorations on Foreign Nationals for the year 2012. This Order is presented to Prof. Jayakumar in recognition of his significant contributions to strengthening bilateral economic relationship and promoting political, economic and cultural exchanges between Japan and Singapore. During his tenure as Foreign Minister, he took the leadership to launch the “Japan-Singapore Symposium”, a high level regular forum for intellectual exchange between our two countries, in 1994 and played a leading role in the launch of the “Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement” negotiation, the first Economic Partnership Agreement for Japan, in 1999 and its conclusion in 2002. Besides, throughout his tenure as Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Senior Minister, Prof. Jayakumar also gave great support on Japan’s diplomatic relationship with ASEAN. (See appendix for more details on Mr. Jayakumar’s contributions) In recent years, Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star in November 2009, and H.E. Mr. Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister, received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in June 2011. On 8th May, Prof. Jayakumar will attend the ceremony where H.M. the Emperor will bestow the Order and give an audience at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan.