Secretary of the Da Nang municipal Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Anh (L) and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Source: VNA) Briefing the guest of the capital city’s socio-economic development, Chung said the municipal authorities are looking towards developing Hanoi into a smart city with a system of modern infrastructure, e-government and technological advances.
The city also wants to cooperate with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to enroll local officials for training courses on administrative management, he added.
Lee, for his part, expressed his delight at the growing ties between Singapore and Vietnam, and between Singapore and Hanoi in particular, thereby enhancing economic and trade ties.
The guest lauded the results of bilateral cooperation projects underway in Hanoi and asked the municipal authorities to continue providing support for Singaporean investors in Vietnam.
He assured the host that Singapore wants to partner with Hanoi to build hi-tech and software industrial parks, as well as develop smart city model.
Singapore is currently the top investor in Hanoi with 280 projects worth 5.33 billion USD as of March 20, 2017. Up to 28 projects registered by entities and individuals in the city have also been licensed by Singapore with a total registered capital of nearly 42.7 million USD.
Meeting Secretary of the Da Nang municipal Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Anh in Hanoi the same day, Lee said he is looking forward to attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) High-level Week slated for this November in Da Nang.
He added that direct flights between Singapore and Da Nang have facilitated tourism and two-way trade over the past years.
Lee underscored the importance of the municipal authorities’ strong support for the software park project by Singapore’s Sembcorp, which has been approved, saying that it is a crucial factor for its success, given the past example of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) currently available in seven Vietnamese localities.
According to him, Vietnam has many information technology talents so that an ecological system to nurture them is needed.
Anh, in reply, said Da Nang lies in the hub of the central region and shares similarities with Singapore in land coverage, sea climate and orientations to common development.
More than 20 Singaporean projects worth in excess of 230 million USD are underway in the city, he said.
The city’s leader hoped that education will be a priority field in ties between Da Nang and Singapore, and believed that the Singaporean leader will witness progresses of Da Nang – one of the country’s most vibrant cities, during his stay this November. -VNA
VNA
