YANGON, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar Saturday hailed the official visit to Singapore of Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein, saying that the goodwill visit of Thein Sein to Singapore will surely further strengthen friendly ties and economic cooperation between the two countries.

    "Being ASEAN member countries, Myanmar and Singapore have maintained friendly ties since yore," the paper said in its editorial, citing that trade and investment between Myanmar and Singapore are on-going and improving, and cooperation between the two countries is on the rise.

    The Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein made two-ASEAN-nation tour of Indonesia and Singapore from March 15 to 18.

    A meeting between Myanmar goodwill delegation led by Thein Seinand Singaporean delegation led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took place during his visit to Singapore on Tuesday, it said.

    Thein Sein stressed at the meeting that know-how and investment of Singapore will surely benefit both countries as Myanamr is rich in natural resources, adding that the experiences and cooperation of Singapore can be put into most beneficial use for the beautiful beaches and snow-capped mountain ranges of Myanmar in the tourism sector.

    "The Singaporean Prime Minister said that Myanmar and Singapore are joining hands under the ASEAN Cooperation Programme in addition to bilateral cooperation; that the governments of the two countries can cooperate in trade and tourism services," it added.

    Singapore is the third largest investor in Myanmar with over 1.5 billion U.S. dollars being injected into the country as of the end of 2008 since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988.

    Singapore's bilateral trade with Myanmar amounted to 1.582 billion dollars in the first nine months of fiscal year 2008-09 ending March with Singapore standing as Myanmar's second largest trading partner after Thailand during the period. Of the total, Singapore's exports to Myanmar accounted for 795.36 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar took 787.16 million dollars.

    Over the past few years, Singapore has helped Myanmar develop its human resources with its higher education institutions offering various scholarships to Myanmar students. These institutes include the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technology University (NTU), Nanyang Institute of Management (NIM), the PSB Academy and the TMC Private College of International.