Singapore-Vietnam Strive for Further Collaboration to Deepen People-to-People Ties

On 15 May 2017, the SIF hosted the Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore His Excellency Nguyen Tien Minh, VFSA’s Vice-Chairman His Excellency Nguyen Duc Hung, and other senior VSFA representatives to explore opportunities to work together to foster greater intercultural understanding and forge friendships between the Singapore and Vietnam communities.

Both organisations aim to achieve this through collaborations on projects and initiatives over the next two years that engage leaders from both communities in the promotion of social innovation and entrepreneurship, arts and cultural exchange, and volunteer cooperation. This meeting followed on from a successful Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing between the SIF and the VSFA in March.

SIF-VSFA MOU Signing Ceremony 

The SIF-VSFA MOU was one of the five cooperation agreements inked between Singapore and Vietnam during an official ceremony witnessed by the Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lee Hsien Loong and Vietnamese counterpart Prime Minister Mr Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The ceremony, which took place at the Government Office of Vietnam on 23 March 2017, was in conjunction with Mr Lee’s official visit aimed at further strengthening ties between the two countries.

Additionally, this year marks 23 years of collaboration between the SIF and the Vietnamese community, fostered through various projects in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. 

Mrs Lee Hsien Loong’s Visit to the Special Education Project 

During the official visit, the Singapore Prime Minister was accompanied by Mrs Lee Hsien Loong who visited the Early Intervention Centre and Practical Kindergarten in Hanoi facilitated by the SIF’s Singapore International Volunteers (SIV) and National College for Education staff. Mrs Lee met with SIV and educational and behavioural therapist Mr Andrew Tan, and NCE teaching staff who were participants of Special Education project. She also interacted with the kindergarten children in classroom activities.

Special Education is one of the longest-running SIF projects with the Vietnamese community, aimed at addressing the shared challenge of educating students with diverse abilities and needs. Since 2010, our SIVs have thus far trained a core group of 75 special education lecturers and teachers in Vietnam to raise their capability in special education teacher training. They will in turn go on to train some 400 teachers to uplift lives of thousands of Vietnamese children with a spectrum of developmental needs. 

Read more about the SIF-VSFA MOU signing and Mrs Lee’s visit to the SIF’s special education project here:

1. Joint Press Release: Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and Vietnam-Singapore Friendship Association (VSFA) Ink Partnership to Connect Communities and Enable Collaborations for Positive Change
2. The Straits Times: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/six-cooperation-agreements-signed-on-third-day-of-pm-lees-visit-to-vietnam
3. Channel NewsAsia: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-vietnam-ink-slew-of-mous-in-banking-and-infrastructure-8602944
4. TODAY: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/much-potential-vietnam-singapore-expand-economic-ties-pm-lee
5. Berita Harian: http://www.beritaharian.sg/dunia/spura-vietnam-meterai-perjanjian-perkukuh-kerjasama-sosial