Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong discussed on bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries amid COVID-19 pandemic, over the phone on Friday. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) meets with Singaporean Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong in Ha Noi on September 12, 2018. Photo: VGP

Phuc spoke highly of the efforts and comprehensive measures taken by the Singaporean Government in containing the spread of the virus and mitigating socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.

He underlined the importance of international and regional cooperation in the current context and hailed the sides’ mutual medical supply support and citizen repatriation coordination.

Phuc expresed thanks for the active support and contributions of Singapore and PM Lee to the success of the virtual Special ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Summit in response to COVID-19 that took place last April.

Meanwhile, Lee was impressed by the success of Viet Nam’s fight against COVID-19 and thanked the Government and people of Viet Nam for having donated medical supplies to his country, adding that the donation demonstrated the solidarity, friendship and trust between the two partners.

Lee also highly valued Viet Nam’s role and initiatives so far this year as the current ASEAN Chair, contributing to rallying cooperation within ASEAN and between the bloc and its partners in coping with and reducing the multi-faceted impacts of the pandemic.

The two leaders agreed to double efforts to sustain the development pace of the Viet Nam-Singapore strateic partnership through maintenance of high-level contacts and exchanges and bilateral cooperative mechanisms.

The pair vowed to further strengthen connectivity between the two economy and ensure sustainability of supply chain despite the current challenging landscape.

They welcomed the ongoing negotiations by the sides’ ministries and agencies to reach a rice deal under which Singapore would import rice from Viet Nam on a long-term basis.

The leaders agreed to continue enhancing coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums. PM Lee voiced strong support for Viet Nam to successfully undertake the roles as the ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the tenure 2020-2021. 

PM Phuc appreciated the contributions of Singapore as the country coordinator of the ASEAN-EU relations for the 2018-2021 period. 

The two PMs emphasized the significance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, pledging to work together to uphold ASEAN’s solidarity and common positions and to beef up the talks on a substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea that is in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea./.