Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc had a phone call with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Wednesday from Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong had a telephone conversation on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual concern.

The Singaporean PM congratulated the successes of Việt Nam’s 13th National Party Congress and PM Phúc’s re-election to the Party’s Politburo, hailed Việt Nam’s achievements in containing the COVID-19 pandemic while making progress in socio-economic development, as well as the country’s fulfilment of its position as Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, which included the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), opening up new opportunities for trade and investment liberalisation in the entire region.

PM Loong also reaffirmed that Singapore cherishes its strategic partnership with Việt Nam, especially against the backdrops of complicated regional and international developments.

The Vietnamese Government leader, for his part, also noted how Singapore has been regarded as a “bright spot” in the region with regards to containing the pandemic, and praised Singapore’s economic recovery initiatives including the setting up of “air travel bubble” or Connect@Changi (part of Connect@Singapore initiative) aiming at facilitating travel and reopening the borders.

PM Phúc asked that the two sides cooperate in containing COVID-19 outbreaks and getting access to safe sources of COVID-19 vaccines; create favourable conditions for businesses and investors to restart production, trade and investment; effectively utilise the bilateral relations within the framework of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and RCEP to promote trade and minimise disputes.

The Vietnamese and Singaporean Prime Ministers concurred that the bilateral Strategic Partnership is growing effectively and substantially; affirmed to strengthen cooperation in fields in which both countries have potentials such as agriculture, fisheries, finance, information technology, education and training, infrastructure, etc., as well as other sectors aiming at meeting the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution-era such as clean energy development, smart cities and smart urban solutions, innovation, digital economy and digitalisation.

Việt Nam and Singapore should also step up the sharing of experience in economic management and development and  human resources training, especially high-quality human resources, the two countries’ leaders agreed.

The two prime ministers have also discussed a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Regarding the South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea), the two sides affirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation, maintenance of peace and security, and peaceful resolution of disputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), moving towards an effective and practical Code of Conduct (COC) of parties in the South China Sea. — VNS