Proportion of Civil List Used in Respect of President's Attendance at International Appointment Meetings

1 Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Prime Minister in respect of the President's international appointments (a) what is the estimated proportion of the Civil List that will be used to pay for the travel costs of the President and his delegation to attend international meetings; and (b) what is the estimated number of man-hours spent by civil servants to support the President in this regard.

Mr Lawrence Wong (for the Prime Minister): The Government supports the international appointments taken up by the President, as they are assessed to further our national interests and bring benefits to Singapore. Depending on the issues being discussed, a relevant agency will be assigned to support the President in these international engagements. Accordingly, the airfare, transport and accommodation costs of the overseas trips are borne by the relevant agencies, as part of their international work. The Civil List is generally not used to fund such trips. We also do not separately compute the number of man-hours spent by civil servants to support the President. It would, in any event, be very difficult to do so as their goals and work on international matters, for example, is not unique to their support for the President.