First, on behalf of the National Youth Achievement Award Council, may I extend a very warm welcome to the leaders and youth delegates from Switzerland.

I understand the visitation of the Swiss Youth Delegation was supposed to take place in May this year, but due to the SARS outbreak, the trip was postponed. More importantly, you are here now and the NYAA Council is indeed very pleased to have the opportunity to play host for the visitation.

The event this evening is not just a social gathering, it is very significant as we bring the youth of Switzerland and Singapore together to interact and learn more about one another.

I hope that by the end of the programme, not only will you know more about Singapore, you will also have made some new friends.

The NYAA Council is indeed very grateful to the Embassy of Switzerland, especially Ambassador Woker, for his strong support of the programme. We are also very grateful to Mr W.E. Huber, Group Executive Chairman, Boncafé International, for his financial support all these years. Mr Huber has been instrumental in the development of the bi-lateral youth programme between our two countries. Thank you Mr Huber.

We are also grateful to our Singapore Ambassador to Switzerland, Ms Pang Cheng Lian, for her strong support. Ms Pang will be stepping down as Singapore Ambassador to Switzerland and I would like to wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

We also look forward to working closely with the Singapore Ambassador to Switzerland Designate, Mr Michael Hwang, who is with us tonight. Welcome to the bi-lateral youth exchange programme family.

The Swiss School Association has been a strong partner of the NYAA Council. We would also like to thank the association for this partnership.

It is through the strong collaboration and partnership from all those that I have mentioned earlier that this programme has grown from strength to strength.

I noted that next year is the 10th Anniversary of the Singapore - Switzerland Bi-lateral Youth Exchange Programme. It is worth celebrating this auspicious occasion. I am sure the NYAA Council and its partners will organise something special for this occasion.

The Singaporean youths have benefited greatly from the exchanges and have learned much from their visits to Switzerland. They have been actively involved in sharing their experiences with their respective schools and organisations. Many of them are here this evening.

For the Swiss youths, I hope the experience gained from your visit to Singapore will be a fruitful and meaningful one. I hope you will be able to share your experiences in the city-state of Singapore with your friends and family back home.

In conclusion, I would like to commend the NYAA Council for all the hard work in making this exchange programme a success.

The NYAA Programme has been hailed by our Prime Minister as a premier youth programme in Singapore. Keep up the good work.

To the Swiss Youth Delegation, I wish you a pleasant stay in Singapore and I hope you will enjoy the programme that has been planned for you by the NYAA Council.

Thank you.

• H.E. Dr Daniel Woker, Ambassador of Switzerland to The Republic of Singapore