President Vo Van Thuong receives Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. (Source: VNA)

On August 28, at the Presidential Palace, President Vo Van Thuong received Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the occasion of his official visit to Vietnam.

President Vo Van Thuong welcomed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to Vietnam on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1973-2023) and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership; emphasizing that the visit is of great significance, creating new momentum to contribute to promoting cooperation between the two countries to new heights.

The President expressed his impression of the strong recovery of Singapore's economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, and expressed his belief that Singapore will continue to develop dynamically, soon achieve the goals of the "Green Plan 2030", and build a harmonious and increasingly prosperous society. On this occasion, President Vo Van Thuong conveyed his regards to Singaporean President Halimah Yacob.

Expressing his delight at his official visit to Vietnam, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong affirmed that Singapore always values ​​and wishes to strengthen its strategic partnership with Vietnam, and at the same time welcomed the two countries' efforts to upgrade their relationship to a new level in the coming time.

Announcing the successful outcome of the talks between the two Prime Ministers and the signing of seven cooperation documents on the occasion, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong emphasized that Singapore welcomes the upgrading of the Economic Connectivity Framework Agreement between the two economies, as well as expanding cooperation in energy and human resource development; emphasizing that Vietnam is a potential partner of Singapore in the region.

The head of the Singaporean Government also agreed to increase the exchange of experiences in economic management, urban management, and the training and promotion of talents.

President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed their satisfaction with the extensive development with many positive and substantive results in the bilateral relationship over the past 50 years, especially in economic, security, defense, education and training cooperation; and agreed to promote the effective implementation of the Digital Economy - Green Economy Partnership established in February 2023.

The two leaders also welcomed the promotion of high-level exchanges and contacts through all channels of the Party, State, Government and National Assembly; the effective implementation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the Ministerial mechanism on Connecting the Two Economies; the continued effective expansion of VSIP zones - symbols of successful economic cooperation between the two countries; the strengthening of cooperation in education and training and the promotion of people-to-people exchanges, especially between the young generations of the two countries.

In addition to continuing to promote traditional areas of cooperation, the two leaders also agreed to step up cooperation in new areas including innovation, clean energy, equitable energy transition, digital transformation, and exchange of innovative talents.

Discussing international and regional issues, the two leaders agreed that in the context of the complicated and unpredictable developments in the world situation, the two sides need to promote similar viewpoints; continue to coordinate and support each other for peace, stability, cooperation and development; and maintain solidarity and common stance of ASEAN on important international and regional issues, including the East Sea issue.