Lee's visit highlights ties

Lee's visit highlights ties

HANOI (Reuter): Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew
arrived in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday for a visit to Vietnam that
underlines growing business and political ties.

Heading a team of 18 Singaporean businessmen, Lee is scheduled
to meet government officials in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's
economic powerhouse, and nearby Song Be province, where Singapore
is considering a site for an industrial zone.

He is also expected to meet national leaders in Hanoi later
this week and to visit two Singaporean property developments in
the capital.

Lee's delegation included executives from Singaporean
property, manufacturing, transport, financial and trading firms,
Singapore's Trade Development Board said earlier.

The visit underlined Singaporean business interest in Vietnam
and government ties that will be reinforced next July when
Vietnam joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
of which Singapore was one of the founders.