by Feng Yingqiu
NAY PYI TAW, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral relations and cooperation between Myanmar and Singapore have opened a new page as Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is currently visiting Myanmar on the occasion of the two countries' 50th anniversary diplomatic ties.
Aimed at consolidating the two countries' friendship and cooperation and helping Myanmar in its development, Prime Minister Lee's visit represents the first leader of Asian countries to come to Myanmar after the new government assumed office on April 1.
At their meeting, Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw and visiting Prime Minister Lee vowed to enhance cooperation in economy and vocational education.
The two leaders held discussions on boosting investment between the two countries, opening of more training courses with the Myanmar-Singapore Vocational Training Institute, tourism promotion including adding more Singapore flights to Myanmar's major cities and updating of the two countries' avoidance of double taxation agreement signed in 1999.
An agreement between the two governments on mutual exemption of visa for ordinary passport holders was signed on the occasion.
The exemption, which will grant 30 days of stay by ordinary passport holders in each other's country, will be effective from Dec. 1.
The signing of the document has ensured facilitation for peoples of the two countries in further exchange.
At the invitation of President U Htin Kyaw, Prime Minister Lee, who arrived in Nay Pyi Taw Tuesday on a three-day goodwill visit to Myanmar, also met with State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi who responded to Lee's call for active role in international affairs by the two countries.
In May, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan visited the capital, expressing satisfaction over Myanmar's development and readiness to support the country as a partner.
Singapore stood as Myanmar's second largest investor after China with 13.06 billion U.S. dollars as of March 2016 since late 1988, accounting for 20.51 percent of the total foreign investment in the country.
Myanmar-Singapore bilateral relations dated back to Aug. 12, 1966 when the two countries established diplomatic ties.
Myanmar and Singapore have occasionally reiterated working for promoting bilateral economic ties, especially in development of human resources and cooperation in the financial sector.
Singapore companies have made significant investment in the Southeast Asian member nation with projects across various sectors such as tourism, industrial and real estate.
To nurture youth scholars and promote employ ability of young people through skills training, Myanmar has launched a Singapore-Myanmar vocational training institute in 2015 which trains Myanmar students through courses designated by Singapore's Institute of Technical Education's Education Services.
The training helps boost Myanmar's tourism industry.
Moreover, Singapore offered ASEAN scholarship to Myanmar students for 2015 academic year.
Meanwhile, Singapore-Myanmar technical cooperation program was extended for more three years until 2018.
Under the bilateral program, Singapore has provided targeted technical assistance to support Myanmar's development in three areas including economic development, human resource development and public administration.
The technical cooperation program has trained more than 11,700 Myanmar officials in economic and human resource development as well as public administration.
