Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s Ministry ofPublic Security and Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs have signed a documenton extending the agreement on bilateral cooperation in the field ofcross-border crime prevention and control.

The signing took place after talks betweenVietnam’s Minister of Public Security To Lam and Singapore’s Minister for HomeAffairs and Minister for Law K.Shanmugam in Hanoi on December 6.

At their talks, Lam said after the agreement wassigned in 2006 and extended in 2012, the cooperation between the two ministrieshave seen positive strides in various fields such as high-level delegationexchanges, law enforcement, fire prevention, and search and rescue operations.

This has contributed to reinforcing mutualpolitical trust and deepening the two countries’ strategic partnership set upin 2013, he said.

The effective cooperation between Vietnam’sMinistry of Public Security and Singapore’s relevant agencies over the pasttime has made active contributions to the defence-security cooperation – animportant pillar in the bilateral relations, he added.

The two ministries have increased informationexchanges in preventing terrorism, dealing with chemical, biological, nuclearand radioactive weapons as well as cyber attack risks, Lam said, adding thatthis is an important premise for the two governments and particularly the twoministries to develop cooperation in the future.

He noted that Vietnam will host the 39th ASEANPolice Conference (ASEANPOL – 39) in 2019, so his ministry hoped Singapore willsupport the event to reinforce the central role of ASEAN in general and thesecurity-politics cooperation pillar in particular.

In 2020, Vietnam will take the role of ASEANChair and host a number of relevant events, Lam said. He suggested the twosides strengthen information exchanges in the fields of mutual concerns such asterrorism, economic crime, wanted criminals, cyber security, and othernon-traditional security issues.

He asked the two sides to boost cooperation intraining and ensuring cyber security as well as share relevant crimeinformation to ensure safety for business and investment activities and forcitizens living, learning, working, and travelling in the respective countries.

He also recommended maintaining the organisationof the Interpol bilateral conference and promoting experience sharing in lawenforcement in fire and explosion prevention.

The Minister took this occasion to thank K.Shanmugamand officials from Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs for activelycoordinating with Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security to handle serious casesrelated to economic fraud and human trafficking.

Shanmugam believed that the bilateral cooperationwill see new developments and contribute to ensuring security and order in therespective countries as well as regional peace and stability.

He pledged to do his utmost to bring thebilateral friendship and cooperation to a new height.

The same day, Phan Dinh Trac, head of theCommunist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs,who is also deputy head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption,received the Singapore’s Minister.-VNA