HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam-Singapore Cooperation Centre was officially launched in Hà Nội on Saturday.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Teo Chee Hean who is in Việt Nam for a six-day visit was present at the event.

Its aim is to help narrow the development gap of the newer ASEAN member states, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Việt Nam (CLMV). 

The centre was established as part of the Việt Nam – Singapore Training Centre which opened in 2002 under the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) launched in 2000 by then-Prime Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong.

Since 2002, more than 10,000 Vietnamese officials have attended courses at the centre ranging from language and communication skills, economic development, trade and tourism, public administration, governance and law and infocomm Technology.

At the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in August 2018, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the upgrading and re-branding of the IAI training centres to the Singapore Cooperation Centres during Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Singaporean ambassador to Việt Nam Catherine Wong said “Today, the world is changing rapidly; development challenges and policy issues are becoming more complex.

“Việt Nam’s rapid growth and development also means that the traditional courses that we ran are less relevant. We need to complement the classroom-based training with more modalities, including expert consultancy and hands-on projects.”

“We are committed to working with Việt Nam to develop its human resources. As a small island state with no natural resources, Singapore strongly believes that human resource development is key to a country’s sustainable development and progress,” said the ambassador.

“These enhanced Cooperation Centres in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Việt Nam represent the next phase of Singapore’s contribution to the IAI agenda and underscore Singapore’s support for regional development and resilience, as well as our longstanding commitment to address the development needs of these countries and narrow the regional development gap.”

Singapore and Việt Nam celebrated 45 years of bilateral relations and the 5th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership last year. A key aspect of the bilateral ties is the longstanding partnership in human resource development.

The revamped co-operation centre aims to facilitate a wider range of technical assistance projects for example, urban planning projects, education services, consultancy projects and services, volunteer work and humanitarian assistance.

Also it is expected to offer an integrated development assistance platform and partner with a greater variety of reputable private and public sector establishments from Singapore, such as Enterprise Singapore, Singapore International Foundation, Singapore Red Cross, Temasek Foundation and Lien AID. 

Visit to Huế

Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean visited the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế on Saturday as part of his ongoing official visit to Việt Nam.

Lê Trường Lưu, Secretary of the Party Committee of Thừa Thiên-Huế, welcomed the Singaporean Deputy PM, briefing him on the local socio-economic situation and co-operation between the locality and Singapore.

Thừa Thiên-Huế is home to four Singapore-funded projects, including the US$2 billion Laguna Huế resort invested by Banyan Tree in Chân Mây-Lăng Cô economic zone, he said.

Lưu said the province and Singapore’s Akitek Tenggara co-operated in tourism planning development.

A large number of students from the province are studying in Singapore. The provincial leader expressed his hope that Singapore would continue supporting the province by encouraging its businesses to seek investment opportunities in the locality, while strengthening education and personnel training collaboration.

Thừa Thiên-Huế wished to work with Singapore in tourism promotion and developing tourism products, he said.

The Singaporean Deputy PM said this was the first time he had visited Huế. He said the city was home to many beautiful landscapes as well as historical and cultural relics.

He said Huế was becoming increasingly attractive to tourists from Singapore and other countries.

He expressed his hope that through the visit, co-operation between Singapore and Thừa Thiên-Huế would be enhanced. During their stay in Huế, Teo and the Singaporean delegation visited the UNESCO-recognised World Cultural Relic Site of Huế ancient citadel relic complex, and a number of other historical and cultural sites. — VNS