Hanoi (VNA)𓆏 - A high level delegation from Hanoi paid a working visit to South Africa and Singapore from October 1-12 to enhance friendship and cooperation between Hanoi and the two countries’ cities.

The delegation was led by Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee and Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc. On her arrival in South Africa, Ngoc held talks with Executive Deputy Mayor of Cape Town City Alderman Ian Neilson, during which the two sides agreed to boost collaboration across various fields, particularly tourism, and maintain all-level delegation exchanges and share experience in urban planning and development. Ngoc said Hanoi hopes to strengthen affiliation with South African localities, including Cape Town , especially in sectors like tourism, heritage preservation, and urban development, to prepare for the signing of a number of bilateral agreements. She later had a working session with authorities from Johanesburg – a leading economic and cultural centre in South Africa. The official said Hanoi wished to learn experience from Johanesburg to address challenges and speed up the capital’s development. Both sides agreed to elevate bilateral relations and sign cooperation agreements on crime prevention, social order and safety, and gender equality in addition to economics, trade, investment, tourism, cultural exchanges, urban management and development, poverty reduction, and jobs generation. Hanoi will create favourable conditions for the two city’s businesses to exchange information, study their respective markets, and promote coordination in trade and tourism, Ngoc confirmed. At a separate working session with Mayor of Tshwane Solly Msimanga, she said Hanoi and Tshwane made cooperation agreements in cultural and social affairs, urban planning and management, tourism, and human resources development in 2007. She noted while Hanoi could learn from Tshwane in education management, the Vietnamese capital could share its know-how in implementing poverty reduction policies as the ratio of needy households in Tshwane is increasing. Concluding her visit to South Africa , Ngoc led the delegation to Singapore. During a working session with Minister of State in the Singapore’s Ministry of National Development & Ministry of Trade and Industry Kok Pok Koon, Ngoc said urban management is crucial in Hanoi’s urban building and development strategy, as well as the promotion of historical and cultural heritage values to develop tourism, she added. Singapore is an important tourism market of Vietnam, she said, saying the number of Singaporean visitors to Vietnam in 2015 reached 236,547, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent. Kok Pok Koon vowed to do his utmost to develop cooperation between Hanoi and Singaporean localities.-VNA