Vietnam Wants to Learn from Singapore in Environmental Protection: President

Vietnam is willing to learn from Singapore’s experience in managing environmental and water resources as well as environmental quality improvement and green city development, President Tran Dai Quang has said. The Vietnamese president made this statement at a reception in Hanoi on Apr 24 given to Singaporean Minister of Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, state media reported. Vietnam will continue pushing socio-economic development towards sustainability with attention on environmental protection, Quang said. He also thanked Singapore for sharing its knowledge in national governance, urban management, economic development and personnel training. Quang also lauded economic, trade and investment collaboration between the two countries, noting that Singapore is the 6th largest trade partner and 3rd biggest foreign investor of Vietnam. In turn, Minister Zulkifli shared President Quang’s view on the need for environmental protection, saying that pollution affects a country, its neighbours and the whole world. He suggested that Vietnam and ASEAN countries need to show a united stance on the issue at the UN conference in Nairobi, Kenya in late 2017. The viewpoints of ASEAN will be discussed at the 14th ASEAN Environmental Ministers’ Meeting in Brunei in September this year, he said. (Vietnam News Apr 25)