Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình (r) receives Singaporean Attorney-General Lucien Wong in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Văn Điệp

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình has asked the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Việt Nam and Singapore’s Office of Attorney-General to step up coordination in criminal justice assistance and criminal asset recovery. 

At a reception for Singaporean Attorney-General Lucien Wong in Hà Nội on Tuesday, Bình spoke highly of the co-operation between the two agencies, especially in fighting crime through criminal justice support. 

The official expressed his hope that Việt Nam would learn from Singapore’s judicial experience, covering procuracy, judgment and e-justice building, explaining that during the implementation of co-operation agreements of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the joining of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), there are many issues related to the judicial sector. 

Highlighting the Việt Nam-Singapore strategic partnership which was established in 2013, Bình said the bilateral friendship and comprehensive co-operation had seen progress in all channels and sectors, from politics to economy, security-national defence, health care, education, people-to-people exchange and justice. 

The relationship had been consolidated through regular visits by leaders of the two countries as well as meetings at multilateral forums, he said, stressing that the Attorney-General’s visit had marked new legal and judicial co-operation between the two sides, contributing to elevating the bilateral ties to a new height. 

Việt Nam and Singapore had participated in judicial assistance within ASEAN and reaped achievements in co-ordination in criminal justice mandate, he said. 

Singapore is Việt Nam’s third largest foreign investor and biggest ASEAN investor with more than 1,800 projects. The Việt Nam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) are seen as a symbol of bilateral economic relations. 

Bình said he believed that the strategic partnership between the two countries would step into a new development period and urged the Attorney-General to contribute to promoting the bilateral collaboration across fields, including the judicial sector.

In reply, Lucien Wong briefed his host on outcomes of his talks with Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Việt Nam Lê Minh Trí, saying the two sides reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on co-operation, creating a legal framework for stronger partnership in the time ahead. 

Over the past time, the Office of Singapore’s Attorney-General had assisted the Vietnamese agency in personnel training, he said.   

The Singaporean office would closely cooperate with the Supreme People’s Procuracy and other Vietnamese agencies to promptly address common cases based on local laws, he said. — VNS