HCM City (VNA) – Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh CityParty Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan had a meeting on March 25 with Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Co-ordinatingMinister for National Security Teo Chee Hean who is on an official visitto Vietnam.

Nhan welcomed the SingaporeanDeputy PM’s visit, holding that it will help bolster the strategic partnershipbetween the two countries in the future, benefiting both sides.

He affirmed that Vietnam paysgreat attention to developing ties with Singapore in all fields and allchannels, expressing his delight at the strong growth in bilateral partnershipover the years, which has been reflected in high political trust; closefriendship; and all-round cooperation, especially in economy, education, andregional security cooperation.

Regarding the cooperationpotential between the city and Singapore, Nhan said that the city is competentin infrastructure and professional capacity to work with Singapore on theconstruction of an innovation centre at the smart urban area of the city. Thisis an ideal destination for Singaporean firms to make long-term investments andconduct business, he stated.

HCM City hopes to learn fromSingapore in applying advanced technology in urban management, education,innovative startup, and smart city construction, he said.

Alongside, the city wishes for Singaporean experts’cooperation and experience in green city development, urban lighting systems,as well as tourism, he said.

[Vietnamese, Singaporean Deputy PMs hold talks]

For his part, the Singaporean Deputy PM said that Singapore hopesto promote its strategic partnership with Vietnam in both bilateral andmultilateral aspects, as well as within the ASEAN framework.

Singapore considers Vietnam a model country for internationaleconomic opening, integration, and transformation to get closer to the globaleconomy, he said.

Teo stated that Singapore is keen on developing ties withVietnam and HCM City in particular so as to learn from and support each otherduring the development process.

He thanked the HCM City leader for supporting Singaporeanbusinesses during their investments and operations in the city over the years,expressing his hope that the city will continue to create favourable conditionsfor investors to make long-term operations in the city.

Singapore highly values the plans that the city has appliedin the early stages of smart city building, including the application of technologyin management and improvement of local supervision over the governmental operation.

By the end of 2018, Singapore was the biggest investor inHCM City with about 1,100 projects worth over 10.7 billion USD.

Singapore has been the second largest trade partner of thecity with two-way trade reaching 3.7 billion USD in 2018. Nearly 300,000Singaporean tourists visited HCM City in 2018, up 41.3 percent over 2017. –VNA