Singaporean media spotlights Vietnamese PM’s visit

Singapore (VNA) – Singaporean newspapers have ran articles highlighting the ongoing official visit to Singapore by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from March 25-27, and specific outcomes reached during talks between the two countries’ Prime Ministers.

Straits Times, Singapore’s leading daily newspaper published in English, said Singapore and Vietnam signed many agreements to strengthen bilateral ties on environmental protection, banking supervision, fintech, renewable energy, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and trade rules.

According to the article, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his visiting counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc toasted the close partnership between their countries, which celebrate 45 years of diplomatic ties this year, at an official dinner at the Istana on April 25’s night.

It quoted PM Lee as saying that Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang of Vietnam will be part of a network of smart cities of ASEAN being proposed by Singapore.

More details on the network, which aims to better connect digital infrastructure and services like e-payments across the region, will be announced at the 32nd ASEAN Summit from April 27-28.

Meanwhile, an article on Singapore's Channel News Asia online newspaper highlighted that the signing of six agreements between Vietnam and Singapore is an important result in the first official visit of PM Phuc to Singapore since he took office.

“One of the agreements will see the two countries collaborate on LNG development in Vietnam, which entails the exchange of information, sharing of best practices and building of technical capacity between the private and public sectors of both countries. This will enable Singapore companies to better understand the needs of the LNG sector in Vietnam and seize more partnership opportunities”, the article said.

At the same time, the agreement on financial innovation will facilitate joint projects between the two countries, help FinTech companies in one jurisdiction better understand the regulatory regime and opportunities in the other, as well as encourage the sharing of information on emerging FinTech trends and developments, it added.

Channel News Asia also mentioned the talks between the two PMs, during which both leaders said that extensive investment and trade ties form a key pillar of Singapore-Vietnam relations, and agreed that measures such as enforcing regulations as well as strengthening business-to-business links were important in creating a pro-business environment.

The newspaper quoted PM Lee as saying that the partnership between Vietnam and Singapore goes beyond economic cooperation as the two sides are working closely on sustainable development.-VNA