Singapore, Oct 25 (IANS) The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) and the Singapore Hotels Association (SHA) have signed an agreement to collaborate in the hospitality industry, WAM news agency reported Saturday.

SCTDA director general Mohamed A. Al Noman and SHA executive director Margaret Heng have signed an agreement in this regard at the conclusion of the ITB Asia exhibition here Oct 21-23.

Al Noman said: "This pact will strengthen relations between the UAE and Singapore, which is a major step towards developing mutual tourism activities between our two countries."

"It presents a chance for us to connect with other cultures and come up with innovative ideas that will help to establish strong partnerships in the future," he added.

"The new hotel classification system that we have implemented in Sharjah has led hospitality facilities to compete against each other to improve their standards.

"This has already improved the overall standard of the emirate's tourism products, and since the demand for these products is projected to increase substantially over the next five years, we need to work on improving them in all possible ways," he added.