(VOVworld) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived in Singapore on Friday to begin activities as part of his agenda while attending the 12^th Shangri-La Dialogue at the invitation of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the Dialogue’s organizing board. Before participating in the Dialogue, Prime Minister Dung paid a courtesy visit to Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam and held talks with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. President Tony said Singapore attaches great importance to Vietnam’s status and role in the region. The two sides expressed their happiness at the solid development of bilateral relations and comprehensive cooperation and said the two countries will continue to strengthen cooperation in international and regional forums for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and globally.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (R)

During talks with Prime Minister Lee, the two sides hailed efforts by the relevant agencies to finalize the content of a Joint statement on the establishment of a bilateral strategic partnership, which will be signed during Prime Minister Lee’s visit to Vietnam later this year. They also agreed to continue to cooperate in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement.

Concerning Vietnam’s message at the 12^th Shangri-La Dialogue, Prime Minister Dung said he would ask countries to respect international law and to build strategic trust based on a sincere desire for peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Both the Singaporean President and Prime Minister agreed with Prime Minister Dung that this message is vital and relevant to the regional situation, contributing to an Asia-Pacific region focused on peace, stability, cooperation, and development. Referring to the East Sea issue, the Singaporean leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security and maritime safety in the East Sea and that all parties concerned should show restraint and settle disputes by peaceful means with respect to international law and the UN 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. They also said that all countries involved should implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and ASEAN’s 6-point Principle on East Sea issues as well as finalize a Code of Conduct in the East Sea as soon as possible.