S'pore-Australian pact

S'pore-Australian pact

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore and Australia signed an
agreement on Saturday to collaborate in providing technical
training to developing Asia-Pacific countries.

The agreement came two days after a visit to Singapore by
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating during which the two
countries issued a declaration urging closer cooperation in
political, security, economic and cultural matters.

The technical cooperation program covers civil aviation,
environmental management, health, housing, information
technology, port management, productivity and telecommunications.

It was signed by Singapore's Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kishore Mahbubani, and the
Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, Ted Delofski.

Under the program, which begins in April, Singapore and
Australia will sponsor two training courses a year.

Both officials said the agreement reflected Singapore and
Australia's growing partnership and their joint commitment to the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.