SINGAPORE - Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday that they have inked the 5th Plan of Cooperation (POC) with China's State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM) in the area of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), mainly in research collaboration.

The MOH said it is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the ministry and the SATCM in 1999, which provides for the POC once every three years, and an annual meeting of the Sino-Singapore Committee on TCM Cooperation held alternately between Singapore and China.

The MOU aims to "formulate cooperation plans and facilitate the mutual exchange of information and expertise on the teaching, practice and regulation of TCM between both countries."

The latest 5th POC has widened the collaboration in TCM research, which represents "an area of relevance for Singapore following MOH's research grant set up this year for research collaborations between western scientific researchers and TCM institutions for better patient outcomes."

Under the MOU and POC, Chinese experts in the field of TCM have been invited to assist the city-state in the examination of TCM practitioners as part of the registration of TCM practitioners since 1999, and in the training of Chinese medicine materials dispensers.

"In return, eight health management training programs have been conducted since 2001 for China's officials to learn about hospital management, medical care and finance policies in Singapore," the ministry added.