DUSHANBE, April 2, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- President Emomali Rahmon’s state visit to Singapore that started on March 30 is going on, according to the Tajik presidential press service.

Yesterday, President Rahmon met with Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Mr. Goh Chok Tong is also the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore.  He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from November 28, 1990 to August 12, 2004.

The two discussed ways to expand mutually beneficially cooperation between Tajikistan and Singapore.  They also considered a number of international and regional issues being of mutual interest.

President Rahmon expressed confidence that his visit to Singapore would pave the way for a broad cooperation between the two countries.

For his part, Mr. Goh Chok Tong noted that his country was interested in expansion of bilateral cooperation with Tajikistan, the presidential press service reported.

Channel Asia News reports that President Rahmon yesterday also visited the Botanic Gardens where an orchid was named after him.

In the meantime, Tajik presidential press service reports that Emomali Rahmon visited the Singapore Exchange today morning to familiarize himself with its activities.

Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is Asia-Pacific''s first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange.   SGX was inaugurated on December 1 1999, following the merger of two established and well-respected financial institutions - the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX).  As of January 31 2010, the Singapore Exchange had 774 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of S$650 billion.  The revenues of SGX are mainly from the securities market (75%) and derivatives market (25%).

Today, Tajik leader also visited the Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM) in Singapore.

ACM is an institution, which forms a part of the three museums of the National Museum of Singapore.  It is one of the pioneering museums in the region to specialize in pan-Asian cultures and civilizations.  The museum specializes in the material history of China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia, from which the diverse ethnic groups of Singapore trace their ancestry.