Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has expressed hopes that Myanmar would give serious consideration to Singapore banks to operate in the country when it opens its financial sector to foreigners.

Talking to reporters on new areas of economic cooperation between Myanmar and Singapore, which were discussed during talks between the Singapore PM and Myanmar's President Thein Sein on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Myanmar on May 11, Lee said Myanmar is developing its financial sector and it will have to consider offering licences to foreign banks, and when it does so, of course, Singapore banks will be in the queue.

“We hope they will be considered seriously because they have good propositions to offer Myanmar,” he said

The two leaders hoped to see increases in two-way trade and investments between Singapore and Myanmar and expansion of bilateral cooperation into new areas, including cooperation in legal sector.

The PM noted that Singapore and Myanmar have inked a memorandum to set up a vocational training institute in Myanmar to help build a pool of skilled workers for the economic zone it is building.

There is a significant Singapore business presence in Myanmar while a large Myanmar community in Singapore and a pool of Myanmar companies using Singapore as an intermediary hub.-VNA