Singapore’s 53rd National Day observed in HCM City

HCM City (VNA) – A get-together to mark the 53rd anniversary of Singapore’s National Day (August 9) was jointly held by the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFO) and the city’s Vietnam-Singapore Friendship Association (VSFA) on August 8.

Congratulating Singapore on the day, Chairman of HCM City’s VSFA Nguyen Ngoc Hoa expressed his delight over the fruitful Vietnam-Singapore cooperative relations in various fields, which have been consolidated through regular visits of both sides’ high-level leaders, and meetings on the sidelines of multilateral forums.

Two-way trade rose nearly 9 percent year on year to 21.6 billion USD in 2017. Singapore is the third largest investor in Vietnam with over 1,800 projects registered at 43 billion USD. Meanwhile, seven Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks nationwide have attracted some 10.9 billion USD, and created over 170,000 jobs for local labourers.

On the occasion, Hoa called for further support from the Singaporean General Consulate, the Singaporean business association, and the Singaporean community in the city to enhance people-to-people exchange as well as collaboration in culture, sports, and tourism.

Singaporean Consul General Leow Siu Lin expressed her respect for the cooperation from the HUFO and the VSFA in Ho Chi Minh City, which she said contributed significantly to fortifying the close relations between Singaporean people and Ho Chi Minh City’s locals.

Regarding the bilateral ties in the past years, she stressed that both countries have gained positive results in cooperation across the fields of economy, trade, investment, tourism, and education and training.

Since 1992, over 18,000 Vietnamese officials, including many from Ho Chi Minh City, have joined training courses in Singapore under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). Such cooperative activities have helped nurture the sound relations and friendship between the two peoples, she said.-VNA