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SINGAPORE: Singapore and Vietnam have agreed to “quickly conclude ongoing discussions” on a “greenway” agreement for essential business and official travel, Singapore’s Foreign Ministry (MFA) said on Tuesday (December 15).
MFA Permanent Secretary Chee Wee Kiong and Vietnam Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung have “tasked officials with finalizing the greenway agreement early next year,” MFA said in a statement.
The two countries are also looking to reestablish regular commercial flights back between them.
“Singapore will be among the first countries with which Vietnam will resume essential regularized official and commercial travel,” MFA said.
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From October 8, short-term visitors to Vietnam can travel to Singapore after applying for an Air Travel Pass.
They do not need to provide a stay-at-home notice upon arrival in Singapore, but will instead be asked to take a COVID-19 test. If the test result is negative, they will be allowed to carry out their activities in Singapore.
They must also have been in Vietnam for 14 consecutive days before arriving in Singapore.
Mr. Chee and Mr. Nguyen co-chaired the 13th Singapore-Vietnam Bilateral Consultation, which was conducted via video conference on Tuesday.
They reaffirmed the “excellent state of the strategic partnership” between Singapore and Vietnam, MFA said.
They expressed their appreciation for the mutual support provided in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, including to nationals residing in each other’s countries and the facilitation of their return home, the exchange of information and best practices, and the contribution mutual of medical supplies and equipment. . “
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The two sides also agreed that multilateral cooperation in the development, manufacture and distribution of vaccines was essential to mounting an effective international response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They affirmed the importance of improving cooperation to combat the economic impact of the pandemic. This is done by boosting economic ties, resuming air connectivity, facilitating travel between the two countries and maintaining supply chain connectivity, MFA said.
Chee and Nguyen reviewed Singapore’s “broad and substantive” cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, finance, transport, labor, food and agriculture, technical assistance, and defense and security, MFA said.
They agreed that opportunities existed to expand cooperation in emerging areas such as start-ups and innovation, digital economy, legal and judicial cooperation, cybersecurity, and smart nation initiatives.
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They also had “productive discussions” about increasing agribusiness cooperation between the two countries, MFA added.
Both sides exchanged views on regional and international developments.
“They stressed the importance of strengthening the unity and centrality of ASEAN, deepening economic integration and upholding multilateralism,” the MFA said.
Chee also congratulated Vietnam on its “successful” ASEAN presidency in 2020 and the “outstanding leadership” of ASEAN’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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