PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng meets with Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew

 PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng talks with Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew – Photo: VNGOVNet

Also in presence on the Vietnamese side were leaders and members of the Government Office and the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Planning and Investment, Finance, Education and Planning. On the Singaporean side, there were the Ministers of State for Finance, Transport, Foreign Trade and Industry, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and other senior officials.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng warmly welcomed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his lady and the Singaporean senior delegation to Vietnam, playing up the visit’s significance and calling it a manifestation of the close friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew expressed his delight to return to Vietnam after an interval of 15 years and his gratitude to the warm reception given by the Vietnamese Government and people to the delegation.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng briefed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on the achievements Vietnam has gained during its renewal process and national construction as well as its ways of development in the coming years which are by releasing as much of internal resources as it can and deepening international integration and cooperation.

The two leaders reiterated their resolution and desire to strengthen the bilateral friendly and cooperative ties in the interests of the two countries’ peoples, peace, stability and development in the region and the world. The two sides were satisfied with the rise of the ties over the recent past backed by the exchange of senior delegations between ministries and agencies of the two countries, the signing of the joint declaration on the framework of Vietnam-Singapore cooperation in the 21^st century, described as a legal framework for better bilateral friendly and cooperative ties in the future. The two sides spoke highly of the efforts made by the two countries’ ministries and agencies in implementing the agreement to connect the two economies of Vietnam and Singapore in six areas: investment, trade and service; finance; post and telecomunication and information technology; transport; and education and training, seeing it an effective way of cooperation and agreeing to extend it to more areas.

By Quang Vinh