Vietnam, Singapore promote economic connections

The seventh Vietnam-Singapore Ministerial Meeting on Economic Connectivity, presided over by Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc and Singaporean Minister of Industry and Trade Lim Hng Kiang, took place in Hanoi on July 4.

Attending the meeting were representatives of ministries, sectors and localities of Vietnam and Singapore involved in cooperative activities in the framework of six fields of the Vietnam-Singapore Agreement on Economic Connectivity (VSAEC), plus major groups and companies of Singapore which were cooperating with Vietnam in selected projects.

During the meeting, the two sides informed each other about the results of economic cooperation between the two countries in the past eight months. They also exchanged measures to strengthen and further promote economic cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam affirmed its interests in economic cooperation with Singapore, suggesting that Singapore closely work with Vietnam to deploy new initiatives in the framework of VSAEC.

Vietnam also encouraged Singaporean businesses to invest in the country for the benefit of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

Signed in 2005, VSAEC is a comprehensive cooperative programme between the Vietnamese and Singaporean governments, focusing on specific fields including finance; education and training; transport; information technology and communications; investment, trade and services.

Under VSAEC, the Vietnam-Singapore Ministerial Meeting on Economic Connectivity is organised annually to review the implementation of the agreed contents and plan action programmes for cooperation in the future.

The next meeting was scheduled to take place in Singapore later this year.

US, Vietnam make progress in APEC integration

A US diplomat has expressed hope that both Vietnam and the US would make important progress in regional economic integration, record stronger growth, create more jobs and increase income for people in the two economies.

Meeting with the Vietnamese business community in Hanoi on July 4 as part of his Vietnam visit, US Ambassador Kurt Tong, Senior Official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), said that as host country of APEC Conference 2011, the US has been implementing numerous activities to boost regional cooperation.
While introducing US objectives and policies towards APEC regional economic integration, Kurt Tong stressed that the APEC economy is always highly placed among US interests as APEC members account for over 50 percent of global economic output, 50 percent of global trade value and 40 percent of the world’s population.
APEC is home to nine out of Vietnam’s top ten trade partners and six out of the ten leading trade partners of the US, he added.
On the occasion, the US Ambassador exchanged views on the APEC cooperation programme, US viewpoints on an Asia-Pacific free trade area, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as well as APEC trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

Congratulations over Venezuelan Independence Day

State President Nguyen Minh Triet on July 4 sent a message of congratulations to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez Frias on the 200 th Independence Day of his country (July 5).
The same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem sent greetings to Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro Moros.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA