Singapore (VNA) – Vietnam andSingapore will expand cooperation in innovation and technology – a new area inthe bilateral economic partnership that was recommended at the 14th ministerialmeeting on economic connectivity between the two countries.

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and InvestmentNguyen Chi Dung and Singaporean Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Singco-chaired the event in Singapore on March 13.

The two ministers agreed that aside from the sixprior areas of cooperation, Vietnam and Singapore will add innovation andtechnology as the seventh field of collaboration as a priority in the contextof the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0).

The two countries will develop action plans withthe implementation of specific joint projects.

The Singaporean side suggested reformingcooperation in education and training associated withtechnology. Specifically, Singapore will provide 50-100 scholarships foroutstanding Vietnamese students to study at its leading technologyuniversities.

The two sides also reviewed the outcomes ofbilateral cooperation in six fields raised at the 13th meeting in Hanoi inOctober 2017, namely finance, education and training, transportation,information technology and communications, investment, trade, and services.

They affirmed that economic partnership is oneof the key pillars to promote and further deepen the strategic partnershipbetween Vietnam and Singapore.

Vietnam asked Singapore to join efforts toimplement new initiatives in the agreement on economic connectivity andencourage Singaporean businesses to put forth new cooperation proposals andincrease investment in Vietnam.

Earlier, on March 12, at a conference inSingapore, Minister Dung introduced the National Innovation Centre (NIC) andcalled for investment in Industry 4.0 projects.

He said the centre is expected to push the transformationof Vietnam’s economic growth, prioritising the spheres of smart factory,digital economy, cyber security, urban area, and environmentaltechnology. 

At the conference, the ministry’s Department ofScience, Education, Natural Resources, and Environment signed a memorandum of understandingwith the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) to enhance business andproject opportunities in high-tech parks with SMF member companies andbusinesses to promote innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Vietnam.–VNA