Singapore (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Public Security General Luong Tam Quang and Singaporean Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam held talks on March 13, agreeing to elevate cooperation between the two ministries on par with their countries’ freshly established comprehensive strategic partnership.

The discussion formed part of Party General Secretary To Lam’s official visit to Singapore from March 11 to 13.

Shanmugam described the visit as an important milestone in bilateral relations, stressing that Singapore and Vietnam boast close-knit political, economic, and people-to-people ties and also share many common and strategic interests in regional and international issues.

Given this, he expressed his belief that cooperation between the two ministries will keep expanding and developing more intensively in the time ahead.

Meanwhile, Quang perceived that the Vietnam – Singapore relationship is now at its prime, with strong political trust, diverse and continuously growing economic and investment links, and close people-to-people connections.

He considered the elevation of the countries’ relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership during General Secretary To Lam’s visit as a historic landmark for the two sides to advance collaboration for the sake of each country and also to contribute to the building of a united and strong ASEAN Community of cooperation and development.

During the talks, the two officials reviewed the important results gained recently, including the sharing of information about transnational crimes, the coordination in settling cases via the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), the safeguarding of security for the countries’ diplomatic delegations and citizens, and the viewpoint coordination and mutual support at the drug combat cooperation forums within the ASEAN framework.

They agreed to lift the two ministries’ cooperation on par with the Vietnam – Singapore comprehensive strategic partnership by effectively implementing the signed agreements, including the freshly inked deal on cooperation in preventing and fighting transnational crimes, and stepping up the negotiation and signing of other legal documents to facilitate law enforcement cooperation.

With regard with cybersecurity, the Vietnamese ministry highly valued the active participation and role of Singapore as the country coordinating ASEAN efforts in fighting cybercrime, as well as the city state’s implementation of the agreement on fire control and rescue.

Basing on the obtained results, Quang and Shanmugam underlined the need to maintain close collaboration to firmly safeguard their countries’ national security, keep social order and safety for the two peoples’ peace and happiness, effectively carry out the signed agreements, and increase delegation exchanges to boost ties in transnational crime combat.

The two sides also agreed to bring into play dialogue mechanisms and cooperation agreements to share viewpoints on the regional security issues of common concern, improve capacity to ensure efficient and timely response to emerging challenges, and bolster cooperation in ensuring cyber security and safety.

In addition, the ministries will share experience in 🅷e-government and smart city building and management, implement legal systems for ensuring cybersecurity, actively support each other’s stances, 𝔍viewpoints, and initiatives within the ASEAN framework as well as other multilateral cooperation mechanisms, according to the officials./.