SINGAPORE: Singapore and Indonesia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a pilot project to control avian flu.

The MOU was signed by Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, in Jakarta on Wednesday morning.

It aims to help Indonesia translate its national strategy plan in controlling avian flu in a defined and localised area.

The project will involve testing how recommended approaches in reducing avian flu work on the ground, so that lessons learnt can be applied to other areas in Indonesia.

This trilateral project is to be carried out over three years and is estimated to cost US$4.5 million.

The project was initiated by leaders of Indonesia, Singapore and the US on the sidelines of the 2005 APEC meeting. - CNA/ir