Singaporean leaders have said they want to bolster the multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam and continues to closely work with the country at regional and international forums, in a bid to enhance cooperation in ASEAN and tackle current regional challenges such as disease and climate change.

Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and head of the Party Central
Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs Phan Dinh Trac (second from left)
meets with Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong (Photo: VNA)

They expressed the wish during meetings with a delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) led by Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs Phan Dinh Trac, who are on a Singapore visit from February 17-22.

The visit was made at the invitation of Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, as part of a programme held in memory of late Singaporean President S R Nathan.

While in Singapore, the delegation held meetings and working sessions with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; Deputy PM, Finance Minister and leader of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) Heng Swee Keat, and other high-ranking officials of the country.

Singaporean leaders welcomed the visit of the Vietnamese delegation which took place when the Singapore-Vietnam strategic partnership is thriving in all fields. Speaking highly of Vietnam’s achievements over the years, they voiced their belief that under the leadership of the CPV, Vietnam has sufficient conditions for stronger development in the coming time, thereby raising the country’s position and role in regional and international arenas.

For his part, Trac underlined that the CPV and the Vietnamese Government always view Singapore as a leading economic and long-term strategic partner in the country’s foreign policy.

Vietnam hopes to develop the bilateral strategic partnership in a comprehensive and effective manner across all spheres, from politics, security-national defence, economy, trade to legal building and crime prevention, among others, he added.

The two sides need to efficiently implement current agreements and cooperation mechanisms, thus boosting their cooperation through government-to-government, party-to-party and people-to-people channels, Trac requested.

He voiced his hope that Singapore will keep up its important role and voice to strengthen solidarity and cooperation in ASEAN, and bring into play the bloc’s central role to maintain peace, security, order and stability in the region and the world.

At the meetings, the two sides also exchanged views on situations in the region and the world, along with the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security in the East Sea and settling disputes by peaceful measures, in line with international law while ensuring freedom, security and safety of navigation and aviation.

Both sides laid stress on the importance of experience sharing between the CPV and the PAP in party building and enhancement of capacity and combat readiness for members. They agreed that party-to-party exchanges will continue to serve as a stable political foundation to develop the Vietnam-Singapore relations in the coming time.

Officials of Vietnam and Singapore discussed orientations and measures of cooperation in jurisdiction reform and completion of the legal system, as well as in jurisdiction support, anti-corruption, crime prevention and security-order maintenance. They consented to bolster information exchanges and training for personnel in the future.

The Vietnamese party delegation also attended a working session with Sembcorp, one of the Singapore’s major corporations investing in Vietnam.