Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his spouse have successfully concluded their official visits to Singapore and Japan, at the invitations of Singapore’s Parliament Speaker Seah Kian Peng and his spouse and President of Japan’s House of Councillors Sekiguchi Masakazu and his spouse.

The visits helped to deepen cooperation between Vietnam’s National Assembly and the parliaments of Singapore and Japan, making practical contributions to developing the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership and the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the world.

Vietnam-Singapore relations have been continuously developing, achieving many important milestones across all fields, with a solid foundation based on political trust and close economic, trade and investment ties. This was affirmed by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Singaporean leaders when reviewing more than 50 years of diplomatic relations and 10 years of the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership.

During high-level talks and meetings with Singaporean leaders, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man emphasised that Vietnam always considers Singapore a vital regional partner, sharing common strategic interests and vision.

In a sincere and open atmosphere, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Singaporean leaders discussed in-depth major directions and measures to strengthen cooperation and elevate bilateral relations in the coming time.

Leaders from both sides agreed that political and diplomatic cooperation plays a core role in providing overall direction for bilateral relations through increasing delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels.

Affirming that economic-trade cooperation continues to be an important pillar in bilateral relations, the two sides agreed to create a favourable legal corridor and step up the supervision of ministries, branches, localities and enterprises in implementing signed agreements and deals, especially in new growth areas, such as green economy, digital economy, clean energy, cyber security, innovation, as well as other key areas of the Vietnam - Singapore Connectivity Framework Agreement. 

The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in traditional areas, such as infrastructure development, transport connectivity, tourism, and people-to-people exchange. 

Regarding security and defence cooperation, the two sides assessed this as an important field with much room for promotion, such as further promoting dialogue mechanisms, exchanges between sea, land and air forces, cooperation in cyber security, search and rescue, military medicine, promoting maritime connectivity, and protecting the environment and marine ecology through the application of new technologies.

To promote substantive cooperation between Vietnam's National Assembly and Singapore's Parliament, the leaders of the two countries agreed to continue to effectively implement the Cooperation Agreement between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Parliament of Singapore, contributing to further developing the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership and soon raising it to a new level. 

At the same time, the two sides need to increase information exchange and share each country's experiences in perfecting institutions, policies, and legal systems, ensuring macroeconomic stability, expanding foreign relations, and improving the effectiveness of international integration, in addition to implementing cooperation activities between committees and agencies of the National Assembly and fostering interactions between Vietnamese NA deputies and their counterparts in Singapore, including young and female legislators.

On international and regional issues, the two countries' leaders agreed to continue to strengthen cooperation, coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, including inter-parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), etc., contributing to enhancing the position and prestige of each country in the region and the world.

The two sides shared similar views on building and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for development in the Asia-Pacific region; agreed on the need to maintain and ensure maritime and aviation security and safety in the East Sea/South China Sea, and peacefully resolve disputes on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 

During the visit, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man had meetings with leaders of several large Singaporean corporations. 

Welcoming and appreciating the business cooperation activities of the corporations with Vietnamese partners in recent times, the National Assembly Chairman affirmed that the Vietnamese National Assembly will create favourable conditions for foreign investors and corporations, including Singaporean corporations, to operate effectively and successfully in Vietnam.

Meeting with officials and staff of representative agencies and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Singapore, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man affirmed that the consistent policy of the Party and State is to always care for and look after the Vietnamese community abroad, an inseparable part of the nation. 

The NA leader highly appreciated the role and hoped that the Vietnamese community in Singapore would always be united, turn towards the country, and at the same time be an important bridge in promoting the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam-Japan relations have continued to grow in a comprehensive and substantive manner over the half century since the establishment of diplomatic ties, particularly following a year of concretising the new relationship framework. This sentiment was emphasised by NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Japanese leaders during their discussions and meetings held as part of the visit.

Vietnam always considers Japan one of its most important and long-term partners, while Japan regards Vietnam as a vital partner in implementing its foreign policy in the region.

Both sides aspire for the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world between Vietnam and Japan to continue developing effectively, substantively, and robustly.

In an atmosphere of friendliness, sincerity, openness, and cooperation, both parties agreed to make joint efforts to strengthen political trust, deepen cooperation across all channels, and promote exchanges and contacts at all levels.

They concurred on fostering cooperation in the field of security and defence, including implementing the agreement on the transfer of defence equipment and technology, as well as enhancing collaboration in United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Additionally, the two sides emphasised the importance of advancing cultural and tourism exchanges, people-to-people connections, and local partnerships to further develop bilateral relations in both breadth and depth.

The two sides also agreed to expand comprehensive cooperation into new fields, such as artificial intelligence, digital transformation, innovation, digital society, green transition, energy transition, and investment cooperation in human resource training.

NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man thanked Japan for actively supporting ODA funding for Vietnam over the past 30 years. He suggested that Japan continue implementing the new generation of ODA with high preferential rates and simple and flexible procedures for Vietnam’s large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects.

The NA Chairman also proposed that Japan support Vietnam in industrialisation-modernisation, building an independent and self-reliant economy with deep and comprehensive integration, in addition to implementing the three strategic breakthroughs in infrastructure, institutions, and human resources. 

Parliamentary cooperation is an important channel in the overall good relationship between the two countries. During the meeting between NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man and President of the House of Councillors of Japan Sekiguchi Masakazu, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the House of Councillors of Japan.

The agreement aims to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation activities between the two countries' legislative bodies at the bilateral and multilateral levels and to promote the effective monitoring of the implementation of signed cooperation agreements.

The two sides agreed to strengthen exchanges and contacts between lawmakers, especially young and female legislators and further promote the important bridging role of the Friendship Parliamentary Union in promoting people-to-people exchanges, business cooperation, and cooperation between localities. They will also promote exchanges and share experiences between specialised committees, collaborate to improve institutions and policies and build legal frameworks to support the businesses of both countries in expanding cooperation and investment in each other’s countries.

Regarding international and regional issues, the two sides agreed to increase coordination and mutual support at forums and multilateral mechanisms, such as ASEAN, the United Nations, and inter-parliamentary forums like IPU, AIPA, and APPF.

Vietnam and Japan have a time-honoured traditional friendship and share many cultural similarities. This was clearly stated by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man at the meetings with leaders of the Japan - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance and the International Friendship Exchange Council (FEC) of Japan.

The National Assembly Chairman hopes that the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance and the FEC will make more positive contributions to the bilateral friendship, further strengthening cultural and people-to-people exchanges, thus deepening the Vietnam–Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

He also called for further support for the Vietnamese community in Japan, having positively contributed to the two countries' socio-economic development.

Providing prompt care and support for the Vietnamese community in Japan was also highlighted by the National Assembly Chairman at the meeting with officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan.

The official visit to Singapore and Japan by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, his spouse, and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly not only made a practical contribution to promoting parliamentary cooperation between Vietnam and, Singapore, Japan but also helped to bring the Vietnam – Singapore and Vietnam - Japan relationships into a new stage of development with more effective and substantive outcomes.