Singapore, July 26 (AseanAll)  — Singaporean Government has appointed Mr Mark Neo Ek Beng as the next Singapore Ambassador to the Russian Federation.

On July 25,  the Letter of Credence Ceremony was held, and President of Singapore Halimah Yacob extended credit to Mr Mark Neo Ek Beng，according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore.

Letter of credence are the official documents that accredit a diplomat as an ambassador or high commissioner to another country.

Mr Neo was Director-General of the ASEAN Directorate from 2019 to 2023.

Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997, Mr Neo served twice at the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, as First Secretary from 1999 to 2003, subsequently as Deputy High Commissioner from 2015 to 2019. He was also Deputy Permanent Representative at the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2012 to 2015. Mr Neo also covered Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, and Southeast Asia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was Special Assistant to then-Deputy Prime Minister/Coordinating Minister for National Security/Minister for Law Prof S Jayakumar from 2005 to 2007. 

Mr Neo graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Western Australia in 1996. He obtained a Master in Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore in 2008.

Mr Neo was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2011 and the Long Service Medal in 2020. He is married to Madam Tan Ai Ling.