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SINGAPORE: Singapore and Vietnam have agreed to deepen cooperation amidst the current financial downturn.
Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang and Vietnam's Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc agreed on Tuesday in a meeting in Hanoi that such a move sends a strong signal of long-term commitment to economic partnership between the two countries.
At the 3rd Connectivity Ministerial Meeting, the ministers affirmed the meeting as an effective platform for bilateral economic engagement.
A statement from Singapore's Trade and Industry Ministry noted that in the last three years, the platform has achieved good progress in all six sectors of cooperation.
Mr Lim also highlighted that there remains a lot of potential to be harnessed in the Singapore-Vietnam partnership, given the breadth of the two countries' shared economic interests.
On the aviation sector, Vietnam and Singapore already enjoy unlimited 3rd and 4th freedom bilateral air right for passenger traffic. It was agreed that further expansion of air right was an important area of cooperation.
Passenger traffic between both countries had grown at 21 per cent for the first nine months of the year. For air cargo, the increase was even higher at 59 per cent.
To meet growing demand, Vietnam and Singapore agreed to work toward an expansion of air cargo right at the next meeting on air right negotiation.
The ministers agreed that with the Vietnam government's decision in August this year to expand Hanoi City from 920 sq km to over 3,300 sq km, the opportunities for collaboration in urban development and planning were now even greater.
Singapore's urban development training programme this year saw over 60 Vietnamese officials visiting Singapore to learn first hand about the country's development experience.
On human resource development, the Ministry of Education and Singapore's educational agencies have been working closely with their Vietnamese counterparts to conduct comprehensive programmes on English language training for Vietnamese teachers, leadership training for school leaders and administrators, and staff and student exchanges.
In March this year, Singapore and Vietnam also launched a programme to train Vietnamese school leaders and senior education officials under the Vietnam-Singapore Centre for Educational Excellence (VSCEE).
To date, 480 Vietnamese trainers have participated in the programme. These trainers will then transfer their knowledge to school principals throughout Vietnam.
The next connectivity meeting will be held in Singapore in mid-2009.
- CNA/so
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