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April 2006

Regional Cooperation Agreement On Combating Piracy And
Armed Robbery Against Ships In Asia (ReCAAP)
Developing an Information Network System to support regional cooperation in the fight against piracy and sea robbery

The ReCAAP initiative gathered greater momentum today as Singapore, on behalf of 16 participating countries, signed a contract with ST Electronics (Info-Software Systems), a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics) to develop an Information Network System (IFN) to facilitate communications and information exchange among the participating governments. The Contract was signed by BG (NS) Choi Shing Kwok, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, and Mr Seah Moon Ming, President of ST Electronics.

ReCAAP is the first regional government-to-government agreement to deal with the piracy problem in Asia.  As of 20 April 2006, eleven countries have signed the ReCAAP Agreement, namely, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.  Of these eleven countries, eight have also ratified the Agreement, namely Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and the Republic of Korea.  India and Sri Lanka have completed their domestic procedures for ratification and are expected to ratify the Agreement soon, while Brunei is in the process of completing its domestic procedures. The ReCAAP Agreement will enter into force 90 days after the tenth country has deposited its instrument of ratification with the depository in Singapore. Singapore looks forward to the signature and ratification by the remaining ReCAAP countries in due course.

As the host of the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC), Singapore is making the necessary preparations to ensure that the Centre will be able to commence work soon after the Agreement comes into force. Today’s Signing Ceremony to develop the IFN marks a significant step forward in the ReCAAP initiative, as a secure information network is critical to ensuring that the ReCAAP member countries are able to carry out secure and expeditious communications with one another and with the ISC.  The IFN will be the backbone of the information-sharing arrangements under ReCAAP, facilitating the dissemination, exchange and analysis of information among ReCAAP member countries to improve ground response to piracy incidents, as well as to enable development of more effective prevention measures.
 
“The demonstrated enthusiasm and speed at which the participating countries have come on board the ReCAAP initiative are clear evidence of regional commitment towards the shared vision of a piracy-free Straits.  When the Information Sharing Centre in Singapore is ready in the coming months, the ReCAAP participating countries will have their own dedicated centre to share information and monitor developments on piracy issues. This will greatly add to the various other initiatives that the individual countries have already been taking on their own, or in concert with each other, to achieve piracy-free waters for the ships in Asia," said BG (NS) Choi Shing Kwok, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport.
 
Mr Seah Moon Ming, President of ST Electronics said, “We are pleased to be engaged as the vendor for the IFN System and to participate in this multilateral effort to promote anti-piracy in the Asian region. We will bring with us all the experience we have gained over the last 30 years, through our numerous local and regional project implementations in homeland security."

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT
20 APRIL 2006

Enclosures:   

• Fact Sheet on ReCAAP
• Fact Sheet on the Information Network System (IFN)

Media contact:

Magdalen Loh
AVP / Head, Corporate Communications
Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited
Tel: (65) 6413 1788 / 9822 3321
Fax: (65) 6484 8840
Email: magloh@stee.stengg.com