HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội People’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung said yesterday that the city was seeking more co-operation with Singapore in urban green space and gardening technology.

He was speaking while welcoming Singapore’s Senior Minister of State at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transport of Singapore Josephine Teo, who is in a working visit to Việt Nam.

Chung said the city planned to build 25 more parks by 2020 and to plant about one million trees in the next five years.

Under the tree-planting project, which began early last month, more than 80,000 trees have been planted so far along the city streets.

The chairman said he expected Singapore’s experience and advanced technology to help Hà Nội achieve a better urban look.

He also called for co-operation with Singapore in projects such as development of new urban areas and hi-tech public transport control systems, as well as introduction of a combined bus-taxi card.

Teo said she was happy to know about the city leader’s attention to urban development.

She said she expected the city to create favourable conditions for Singaporean businesses.

Yesterday morning, the Singaporean official met Việt Nam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh.

Minh said Singapore should make it easier for the entry of more Vietnamese goods, such as farm products, farmed fish, apparel and footwear.

Deputy PM Minh said he was delighted with the dynamic, efficient and trustworthy development of the two countries’ strategic partnership in recent years.

He repeated Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s invitation to Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to attend the 20th founding anniversary of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in the southern Bình Dương Province this September.

He also said the ASEAN member country should continue to develop the VSIP model, as it had proved to be a success here, and to encourage investments in hi-tech, aviation, infrastructure and seaports in Việt Nam.

Minh said both countries should continue to give mutual support at multilateral forums for the sake of their people and the entire Southeast Asian region.

Speaking highly of the practical contributions Singapore has made as the co-ordinating country of the ASEAN-China relations in the 2015-2018 period, he said Việt Nam would work together with Singapore and other ASEAN member states in preserving the bloc’s unity and centrality in regional issues.

Josephine Teo thanked the Deputy PM for his comments on the two countries’ co-operation. She said Singapore would benefit from developing and deepening the strategic partnership with Việt Nam, and pledged to do more to step up the partnership in a more reliable and result-oriented manner. — VNS