Deputy prime minister pham

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held phone talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, the Vietnam Government Portal reported.

During the conversation, PM Lee offered his congratulations to the newly-elected Vietnamese government leader and praised Vietnam’s successful organization of the 13th National Party Congress, effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as socio-economic development and foreign affairs.

The premier affirmed that Singapore gives high priority to fostering relations with Vietnam.

PM Chinh thanked PM Lee for his congratulatory message and expressed his wish to work closely with the Singaporean leader to further strengthen the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership across all fields.

The two premiers rejoiced at the positive developments in bilateral cooperation despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, Singapore was the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, while the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) model is operating very effectively, becoming a symbol for the success in economic collaboration between the two countries.

The leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in such fields as finance, information technology, agro-fisheries, education and training, infrastructure, clean energy, smart city development, digital economy and digitization, economic management, and human resource training.

Both sides will also boost coordination in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, facilitate the repatriation of citizens, and promote the negotiation on travel regulations between the two countries to enhance trade, investment, and tourism cooperation.

PM Chinh applauded the close and effective cooperation between both sides at regional and international forums.

He thanked Singapore for having supported Vietnam during its ASEAN chairmanship in 2020, asking the city-state to continue backing Vietnam in fulfilling its role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2021.

The Vietnamese PM took the occasion to invite his Singaporean counterpart to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time.

PM Lee also expressed his wish to welcome PM Chinh on a visit to Singapore in the near future.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Tuan issued this directive at a Tuesday meeting with Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and the airport’s management board in Ho Chi Minh City.

He said the agencies must prepare to cope with the influx of air passengers and take steps to avoid congestion in the security screening area.

“The airport’s security area must increase its maximum capacity and mobilize more employees to serve passengers to avoid overcrowding that recently happened in the area,” Tuan said.

The domestic terminal at the country’s largest airport has seen frequent overcrowding over the past week, forcing passengers to queue up for hours at the security screening area . Between April 14 and 19, the airport saw up to 80,000 passengers a day.

Tuan also asked the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) to check the number of hourly flights at major airports as the passenger congestion was also triggered by carriers accumulating or canceling flights.

Passengers’ medical declarations was another reason. Tuan agreed that security forces are not tasked with checking passengers’ medical declaration as has been done so far. Instead, this should be the responsibility of the airline staff.

Nguyen Duc Hung, deputy general director of ACV, explained that the recent overcrowding at Tan Son Nhat was related to the limited capacity in the security screening area.

In the A and B lobbies, the airport is equipped to handle over 3,300 passengers an hour. However, from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. last Saturday, the number of passengers waiting for security checks in the two lobbies was more than 5,100, exceeding the capacity by 25-35 percent.

Another factor in the recent overcrowding was a policy to random check 10 percent of passengers. Dinh Viet Thang, head of CAAV, said the random checks were meant as an additional security and safety measure.

To resolve the issue, ACV has been operating the security screening system to their maximum capacity and moved five security scanners from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. Airport authorities have also adjusted the number of flights during the peak hours to reduce congestion at the airport.

The Tan Son Nhat airport has been serving 36 million passengers a year since 2017, well above its capacity. Construction of a third terminal will begin this October.

With Vietnam having contained its latest Covid-19 outbreak, domestic air travel has returned to normal. The latest outbreak occurred in late January, just a few weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, forcing many people to cancel travel plans.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính during his phone talk with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien-Loong on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong on Tuesday said his country gives high priority to relations with Việt Nam, during phone discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart Phạm Minh Chính.

Calling Chính to congratulate him over his election as Prime Minister of Việt Nam, Lee also appreciated Việt Nam’s success in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and in socio-economic development as well as external relations.

In reply, Chính said he hoped to work closely with the Singaporean PM to further promote the strategic partnership between the two countries across all fields.

The two government leaders rejoiced at the positive developments in bilateral cooperation despite difficulties brought by COVID-19. They noted that Singapore was the biggest investor in Việt Nam in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

They agreed to bolster joint work in fields of the countries’ potential and strength, such as finance, information technology, agro-fisheries, education-training, and infrastructure, while seeking to expand cooperation in areas related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as clean energy, smart city, innovation, digital economy, as well as the sharing of experience in management, economic development, and human resources training.

The two sides agreed to boost cooperation in responding to COVID-19 and facilitating the repatriation of each other’s citizens, and accelerate negotiations on travel preferential regulations between the two countries toward resuming safe commercial flights that suit the situation in each country and in the region to promote bilateral trade, investment and tourism ties.

Chính appreciated the close and effective cooperation between Việt Nam and Singapore at regional and international forums, and thanked Singapore for supporting Việt Nam as Chair of ASEAN in 2020. He asked Singapore to continue backing Việt Nam in its role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the remainder of 2021.

The two PMs affirmed their resolve to make active contributions to building a strong, united and resilient ASEAN Community with a central role and common voice in regional and international peace and security issues.

Chính invited the Singaporean PM to visit Việt Nam at a suitable time. Lee accepted the invitation and expressed his wish to welcome the Vietnamese PM to Singapore. — VNS