Vietnam, Singapore to resume post-COVID commercial flights
VOV.VN - Vietnam and Singapore have agreed to accelerate negotiations on a priority travel mechanism towards resuming safe commercial flights between the two countries in order to boost their economic, trade, investment and tourism cooperation.
They will also increase the exchange of information and experience as well as cooperation to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, creating favourable conditions for the two countries’ citizens to return to their homes.
The agreement was reached during phone talks on April 20 between newly-elected Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.
Lee congratulated Chinh on the latter’s recent election as Prime Minister of Vietnam, and expects to collaborate with the new Vietnamese Government leader to promote the strategic partnership in all areas between Singapore and Vietnam.
The two PM expressed their delight at the positive developments of the Vietnam-Singapore cooperation in recent times despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, they noted Singapore is the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, while the Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) model is operating effectively, symbolizing the success in economic cooperation between the two countries.
Both sides consented to strengthen cooperation in the areas of their potential and strength, such as finance, information technology, agriculture and fisheries, education - training, and infrastructure.
They also underscored the need to expand bilateral cooperation to other areas to meet the requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution, including clean energy, smart city development, innovation, digital economy; experience sharing in economic management and development, and high-quality human resource training.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the close and effective cooperation between the two countries at regional and international forums. He thanked Singapore for supporting Vietnam in assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship 2020 role, and asked Singapore to continue its support for Vietnam to fulfill its role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2021.
The two PMs vowed to contribute positively to building a strong, united, ands resilient ASEAN Community which is proactive in adapting to any crisis while promoting its central role and having a common voice in addressing regional and international peace and security issues.
PM Chinh invited PM Lee to visit Vietnam at a convenient time, and the Singaporean leader accepted the invitation with pleasure. PM Lee also expressed his desire to welcome PM Chinh to Singapore some time later.
