The Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore on March 24 held a ceremony to hand over the Friendship Order and the insignia “For peace and friendship among nations” to Catherine Wong Siow Ping, former Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam (2016-2021 term).

According to VNA, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung, on behalf of the State President and the President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), presented the noble awards to the former ambassador in recognition of her contributions to consolidating and promoting the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership as well as solidarity, friendship, and cooperation between their people.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung, on behalf of the State President and the President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), presented the noble awards to the former ambassador. Photo: baoquocte.vn.

Besides foreign affairs, Catherine organized various activities helping to raise mutual understanding between the people of the two countries such as coordinating with the Vietnam-Singapore Friendship Association and the National Fund for Vietnamese Children to hold a charity run in 2018 that collected some 80,000 USD for the fund, among others, Dung said.

As Nhan Dan reported, the diplomat noted his hope that Catherine, in her new position as Director-General of the Southeast Asia Directorate I under the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will further contribute to the bilateral relationship, especially at the time when the two countries are working towards the celebration of the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties, and 10 years of the strategic partnership.

Catherine expressed her good sentiments towards the Vietnamese people and her delight at the comprehensive and good development of the relationship.

She told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s correspondents that it is her honor to receive the order and the insignia.

The former ambassador also highlighted the support of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies during her term in Vietnam.

Singaporean Ambassador Catherine Wong Siow Ping (left) receives a donation of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction test kits from Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung in May, 2020. (Photo courtesy of the Singaporean Embassy)

Vietnam and Singapore agreed to recognize each other’s Covid-19 vaccination certificates, create conditions for safely resuming regular commercial flights, and step up cooperation in the economy, including digital economy, and trade. Vietnam and Singapore issued a joint press statement on strengthening strategic partnership and recovery cooperation on the occasion of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s State visit to Singapore from February 24-26.

Accordingly, the two sides committed to further deepening political and economic relations by sustaining regular high-level engagements and strengthening existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Connectivity Ministerial Meeting, which held its 15th meeting on 12 November 2021.

The Leaders welcomed the agreement on economic and trade cooperation and MOU on digital economy cooperation, which would encourage cooperation in new fields including on regional and global supply chain connectivity, the digital economy, agri-trade, and capitalizing on Singapore’s role as a regional hub for regional economic connectivity and development. Recognizing the complementarities of both economies, the Leaders agreed to leverage common trade agreements to strengthen bilateral economic ties.

At the meeting between President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his host Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacobh (Photo: VNA)

The two sides exchanged views on key regional and international developments. They emphasized the importance of strengthening ASEAN Centrality and unity, deepening regional economic integration including through digital transformation, and upholding rules-based multilateralism to promote peace and stability in the region. They committed to continually pursuing close coordination and mutual support at international and regional fora, especially within ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms.

They welcomed the progress made by the bilateral working group on Covid-19 public health and border measures, which was formed last year. This includes both sides’ agreement on the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates, which will facilitate the safe and early resumption of regular commercial travel between both countries.

Both sides commended the strong and substantive development of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries and agreed to bolster and future-proof cooperation ahead of key milestone anniversaries in 2023: the 50th year of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership.

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