Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc holds phone talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Long (Photo: VNA) PMLee congratulated Vietnam on the successes of the 13th National Congress of theCommunist Party of Vietnam and PM Phuc’s re-election to the Politburo.
Healso congratulated Vietnam’s achievements in containing the COVID-19 pandemicwhile making progress in socio-economic development, as well as thecountry’s fulfilment of its role as Chair of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, which included the signing of the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, opening up new opportunities fortrade and investment liberalisation in the entire region.
PMLee reaffirmed that Singapore cherishes its strategic partnership with Vietnam,especially against the backdrops of complicated regional and internationaldevelopments.
PMPhuc, for his part, also noted how Singapore has been regarded as a “brightspot” in the region with regards to containing the pandemic, and praisedSingapore’s economic recovery initiatives including the setting up of “airtravel bubble” and Connect@Changi, aiming at facilitating travel andreopening the borders.
Hesuggested the two sides cooperate in containing COVID-19 outbreaks and gettingaccess to safe sources of COVID-19 vaccines; create favourable conditions forbusinesses and investors to restore production, trade and investment;effectively utilise the bilateral relations within the framework of theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)and RCEP to promote trade and minimise disputes.
Thetwo leaders held that the bilateral Strategic Partnership is growingeffectively and substantially; affirmed to strengthen cooperation in fields inwhich both countries have potential such as agriculture, fisheries, finance,information technology, education and training, infrastructure, as wellas other sectors aiming at meeting the requirements of the Fourth IndustrialRevolution-era such as clean energy development, smart cities and smart urbansolutions, innovation, digital economy and digitalisation.
Vietnamand Singapore should also step up the sharing of experience in economicmanagement and development and human resources training, especiallyhigh-quality human resources, the said.
Thetwo prime ministers also discussed a number of regional and internationalissues of mutual concern.
Regardingthe East Sea, the two leaders affirmed the importance of strengtheningcooperation, maintenance of peace and security, and peaceful resolution ofdisputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), moving towards an effective andpractical Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea./.
VNA
