Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc holds talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Immediately after the welcoming ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid a courtesy visit to Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and held talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at talks. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA) |
On the afternoon of April 25, the official welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife was solemnly held at the Istana Palace, the headquarters of the State and Government of Singapore.
After the talks, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between ministries and branches of the two countries.
At the meetings, Singaporean leaders expressed their delight at welcoming Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Singapore for the first time as Prime Minister of Vietnam; emphasizing that the visit is an important milestone in commemorating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 5th anniversary of the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership.
Singaporean leaders congratulated Vietnam on its many outstanding achievements in national construction and development and appreciated the Vietnamese Government's determination to build an honest and constructive government.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulated Singapore on continuing to be an economic bright spot in the region, always pioneering and catching up with new economic and scientific trends in the world.
The two sides were pleased with the strong developments in the Vietnam-Singapore relationship in recent times, especially after five years of implementing the strategic partnership.
Bilateral cooperation has been stable and developed in both breadth and depth in all fields on the basis of a trustworthy and close political relationship. The two sides exchange high-level delegations annually and maintain and promote the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Singapore has always been one of the 10 largest trade partners and the third largest investor of Vietnam with a total of 2,000 projects and registered capital of 43 billion USD, nearly doubled since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership. High-level agreements are regularly reviewed and promoted for implementation.
In that spirit, at the talks, the two Prime Ministers exchanged in-depth opinions on specific directions and measures to seize opportunities for regional economic integration brought about by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, bringing cooperation to a new level and bringing practical benefits to the people.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at talks. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA |
The two sides agreed to maintain a trustworthy and close political relationship through regular exchanges of high-level delegations and all-level delegations through all channels of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges; actively organize celebrations of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 5th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership, especially cultural activities and people-to-people exchanges; strengthen consultations and coordination of stances and policies; expand party cooperation, share experiences in leadership, governance, party building, organization, anti-corruption, and exchange of young party members and mass organizations.
The two Prime Ministers emphasized the need to further promote defense and security cooperation; focus on practical cooperation between the navy, air force, search and rescue, defense technology; research strategies and exchange intelligence; increase exchanges between young officers; naval ship exchanges; coordinate to address common security challenges such as piracy, terrorism, ensuring maritime security and safety, cyber security, immigration management, high-tech crime, etc.
Economically, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pledged that Singapore will continue to increase investment in Vietnam in new, high-tech, high-value-added and environmentally friendly fields such as clean energy, waste treatment, water resource management, construction of high-tech zones and smart cities.
Singapore is willing to share experiences and support Vietnam in building seaports and developing logistics services; invest in Vietnamese technology start-up enterprises; support Vietnam in high-tech agricultural production; and consider creating conditions for Vietnamese exports, especially agricultural, forestry and fishery products, to access the Singapore market.
The Singaporean Prime Minister emphasized the significance of cooperation in improving the quality of human resources and affirmed to continue increasing scholarships for Vietnamese students, helping Vietnam train English and vocational skills for workers.
The two sides acknowledged new steps in cooperation in connectivity, finance and science and technology that have contributed positively to economic development; accordingly, the two sides agreed to further expand these potential areas through increasing flight connections between major cities of Vietnam such as Da Lat and Nha Trang to Singapore; cooperating in managing financial and securities markets, supporting large Vietnamese companies to list on the stock market; promoting joint initiatives and projects on innovation and intellectual property, as well as cooperating in commercializing intellectual property, sharing patent applications and training on intellectual property.
In addition to bilateral cooperation, the two Prime Ministers also discussed extensively international and regional issues of mutual concern. The two sides shared visions and committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation in international forums, especially promoting cooperation within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, and the United Nations.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that Vietnam supports and is ready to coordinate with Singapore in ASEAN Year 2018 to strengthen solidarity and ASEAN's central role in the region, towards building a self-reliant, creative, united ASEAN with a central role in the region and the world.
The two sides affirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region, freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, not threatening or using force, fully respecting diplomatic and legal processes, and peacefully resolving disputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The two sides reaffirmed their support for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early conclusion of an effective and binding Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
The meetings and talks took place in an atmosphere of friendship, frankness and mutual understanding.
On this occasion, the two Prime Ministers approved the Joint Statement of the visit and witnessed the signing ceremony of the following documents: Memorandum of Understanding on technical cooperation on environment and water between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources of Singapore; Memorandum of Understanding on financial innovation between the State Bank of Vietnam and the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation and information exchange in the field of banking inspection and supervision between the State Bank of Vietnam and the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of renewable energy between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Singapore; Memorandum of Understanding on investment cooperation in developing liquefied natural gas import projects between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Singapore; Memorandum of Understanding on standardization and conformity assessment between the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Singapore.
On the same evening, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation attended a solemn reception hosted by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife at the Istana Palace./.
