Singapore (VNA) –Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan arrived in Changi InternationalAirport on November 26 afternoon, starting her official visit to Singapore. 

NA Chairwoman Ngan was welcomed atthe airport by Deputy Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Lim Biow Chuan,Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Nguyen Tien Minh and staff of the embassy.

Since the establishment ofdiplomatic ties on August 1, 1973, the friendship and comprehensive cooperationbetween Vietnam and Singapore have progressed effectively on the pillars ofpolitics; economy; national defence-security; education, law, health care,culture-arts-sports; and cooperation at regional and international forums.

As of September 2017, Singaporewas the third largest foreign investor among 126 countries and territoriesinvesting in Vietnam with over 1,917 projects worth more than 41.5 billion USD.

Vietnam poured some 241 millionUSD into 65 projects in the island state, placing Singapore at the 12th place out of 68 countries and territories receiving Vietnamese outboundinvestments in oil and gas, mining, information technology and services.

Over the past years, the Vietnameseand Singaporean legislatures have maintained the exchange of visits by high-rankingparliament leaders and officials. Apart from discussing law-building and legal supervision,they have contributed to promoting bilateral trade and investment.

The two sides have worked closelytogether at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia-Pacific ParliamentaryForum (APPF) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

They have offered mutualconsultations and shared similar stances on the settlement of security and environmentissues in the region.

This is the first visit toSingapore by a top Vietnamese legislator after 14 years since the previous tripby NA Chairman Nguyen Van An in 2003.

The visit is an importantdiplomatic activity to strengthen the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership,towards celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties.-VNA