The visit takes place at a time when the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership has been continuing to develop substantively and achieve many positive results.
Regarding political relations, the two sides have well maintained all-level delegation exchanges and contacts. Most recently, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid a State visit to Singapore in February 2022 and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong within the framework of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting in Indonesia in April 2021.
Vietnam – Singapore economic cooperation has developed positively, becoming a bright spot in Southeast Asia. Singapore is Vietnam’s top leading trade and investment partner in the region. The two-way trade reached 6.9 billion USD as of August this year, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%.
With a total of 2,959 valid projects with a total registered capital of 69.86 billion USD, Singapore remains ASEAN's largest investor in Vietnam, ranking 2nd out of 139 countries and territories investing in the country.
With export turnover of 32 billion USD and total investment of about 18.1 billion USD, Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) are considered a symbol of the bilateral economic cooperation. They have created jobs for nearly 300,000 local workers.
Meanwhile, as of July 2022, Vietnam has invested in 136 valid projects in Singapore. The projects focus on such areas as science and technology, manufacturing and processing industry, information and communications.
In addition, the two sides have strengthened cooperation in transportation, security and defence, finance and banking, education and training, natural resources, environment, and justice.
Notably, the two countries have closely coordinated their COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control efforts. Singapore was one of the first ASEAN countries to provide medical equipment and supplies to Vietnam shortly after the pandemic broke out. When the pandemic became complicated in Singapore, Vietnam donated masks and ventilators to support Singapore in battling the pandemic.
The State visit to Vietnam of Singaporean President Halimah Yacob provides an important occasion for the leaders of the two countries to discuss measures to strengthen and deepen the strategic partnership, especially economic cooperation.
The two sides will discuss orientations to boost cooperation in new and key fields in the fourth industrial revolution, such as digital economy, digital transformation, and regional and global supply chain connectivity, as well as to strengthen bilateral cooperation within the framework of ASEAN initiatives on building green economy, circular economy, and sustainable development.
Continuing to pursue a consistent foreign policy put forward by the 13th Party Congress, with priority given to developing relations with neighbouring countries and ASEAN, Vietnam welcomed Singaporean President Halimah Yacob’s state visit, affirming its consistent policy and aspiration to strengthen and deepen the strategic partnership with Singapore.
The visit also demonstrates the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification, asserting that Vietnam is a friend and a reliable and responsible partner of the international community.
Taking place in the context that the two countries are preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the two countries’ strategic partnership in 2023, the success of the State visit to Vietnam of Singaporean President Halimah Yacob will contribute to consolidating political trust, promoting multi-faceted cooperation, and deepening the Vietnam – Singapore strategic partnership.
