Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew concluded his visit to Vietnam after touring Ho Chi Minh City and southern Binh Duong province.
In HCM City on January 19 Lee was received by Secretary of HCM City’s Party Committee Le Thanh Hai and Chairman of the city People's Council Pham Phuong Thao at separate receptions.
Hai appreciated the effective support from Singapore to the city, which focused on education and training, the economy, urban management and transport planning. Singapore gave English language scholarships to the city's State employees and set up a "Vietnamese House" in Singapore to help attract investment and enhance tourism to HCM City.
Lee urged the city's leaders to accelerate administrative reform and privatization, invest more in infrastructure, and improve the quality of education and training.
The guest also visited the Phu My Hung and Thu Thiem urban areas.
In Binh Duong on January 20 Lee met with Chairman of the province People’s Committee Nguyen Hoang Son.
Lee expressed his delight to the province’s socio-economic development since his last visit in 1997, and showed interest in the provincial human resources for industrial development, administrative reform, education and training, especially English learning.
For his part, He highly valued Singapore’s effective support for Vietnam, particularly Binh Duong, and asked Singapore to continue to help students in the province study English language.
The guest later visited the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park.
During the trip to Vietnam from January 16-20 Lee Kuan Yew talked with all Vietnamese top leaders including Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Party Chief Nong Duc Manh, and President Nguyen Minh Triet in Hanoi.
At his meeting with Triet, Lee affirmed that the first important matter is to work out an overall development plan and quickly put it into effect. He suggested the Vietnamese State have consistent policies, simplify administrative procedures in order to make Vietnam more attractive for foreign investment, and have a strategy narrowing the development gap between urban and rural areas.
The second important matter, Lee said, is to prepare qualified human resources with good professional, foreign language and computer skills, so they can catch up with scientific and technological advances in the world.
(Website of CPV)
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