Singapore will consider signing the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention, Prak Sokhonn, vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, said yesterday after returning from high-level meetings in the wealthy city state.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in the capital, Prak Sokhonn said that Singapore also confirmed its commitment to send delegates to an upcoming meeting on the anti-personnel mine ban convention, also known as the Ottawa convention, set to place in the Kingdom at the end of the year.  

“Singapore will consider signing the anti-personnel mine ban convention,” Prak Sokhonn said.

During his visit, Prak Sokhonn met with Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, K Shanmugam, and Minister for Defence, Ng Eng Hen, to lobby for their support and engagement in the international movement to eradicate anti-personnel mines.  Although Singapore is not currently part of the Convention, it has had a moratorium on the export of anti-personnel mines since 1998.

Prak Sokhonn, has kept a busy schedule lately in preparation for Cambodia’s upcoming role as host. In August, he traveled to Hanoi to seek Vietnamese support for the mine ban convention and last month he spoke at a regional seminar on human costs of landmines.