Vietnam wishes to boost legislature ties with Singapore: NA chairman

Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) wishes to further strengthen ties with the Parliament of Singapore in sharing legislative and oversight experience, said Vietnamese NA chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung on Thursday.

Hung made the remark while holding talks with Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore Halimah Yacob in capital Hanoi on Thursday during the latter's visit to Vietnam.

According to Hung, Vietnam and Singapore need to maintain exchanges of high-ranking visits, making bilateral cooperation more practical and effective in areas of culture, trade, security, and defense among others.

The parliaments and governments of the two countries need to create favorable conditions to lure Singaporean investment into Vietnam, and to lift bilateral trade revenue, Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA quoted Hung as saying.

Welcoming the fact that Singapore continues to expand investment of industrial parks in Vietnam, Hung proposed Singapore to help Vietnam in education and tourism, which are strengths of Singapore.

In addition, the two sides should maintain existing security and defense dialogue mechanism, which helps make two countries' relations become closer and more effective, said Hung.

Yacob, for her part, said at the talks that the parliament of Singapore always supports and is willing to work with Vietnamese NA and people in all areas, for peace and friendship.

Since the establishment of Singapore-Vietnam strategic partnership, the two countries' relations have yielded comprehensive results, said Yacob, adding that her country intends to provide more scholarships for Vietnamese overseas students.

At the talks, two officials agreed to boost exchanges of parliamentary visits, improve infrastructure and conduct administrative reforms to attract more investments.

During her visit to Vietnam, on the same day, Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore met with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Endi