Party General Secretary and State President To Lam will attend and deliver a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 29 at the invitation of Director-General and Chief Executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Bastian Giegerich.
This working visit by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam carries particular significance, opening a new chapter of cooperation between Viet Nam and Singapore as both countries enter a new stage of development marked by intertwined opportunities and challenges.
Singapore is the first ASEAN country to be visited on a state visit by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam following Viet Nam’s consolidation of key State leadership positions at the first session of the 16th National Assembly.
The visit takes place just over a year after To Lam’s visit to Singapore in his capacity as Party General Secretary in March 2025 and the visit to Viet Nam by the Prime Minister of Singapore during the same period, thereby reaffirming the special importance both countries’ leaders attach to Viet Nam-Singapore relations.
Notably, this also marks the first time a General Secretary and State President of Viet Nam has delivered a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue — the region’s premier multilateral security forum. Viet Nam and Singapore established a Strategic Partnership in 2013 and upgraded ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2025, marking major milestones in the history of bilateral relations while reflecting the high level of political trust and increasingly deep convergence of interests in the new context.
In recent years, political and diplomatic cooperation between Viet Nam and Singapore has been strengthened through more frequent exchanges of high-level and other delegations. The Communist Party of Viet Nam has maintained sound cooperative relations with Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) through diverse and substantive forms of engagement. Economic cooperation continues to be a major highlight of Viet Nam-Singapore relations.
The Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) are regarded as a vivid symbol of the close and effective economic connectivity between the two countries and have been likened to a “lighthouse” in bilateral relations. Both sides are now aiming to expand and upgrade the new-generation VSIP network associated with high-tech transfer.
Singapore was also the first country with which Viet Nam established a Green Economy-Digital Economy Partnership in February 2023, opening up new avenues of cooperation in promising areas such as the digital economy, green economy, circular economy and clean energy. Science and technology have become priority areas of bilateral cooperation.
Viet Nam possesses advantages in abundant human resources, a large market and strong development potential, while Singapore has strengths in advanced technology, management expertise and investment capital.
Viet Nam’s new development goals and aspirations require the support and partnership of international partners, including Singapore — a leading regional and global centre for science and technology, innovation and digital transformation.
A major highlight of this visit to Singapore is Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s attendance and keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue — one of the most influential security and defence forums in the Asia-Pacific region.
The forum serves as a platform for sharing visions and discussing strategic issues related to peace, security and defence. The keynote address holds a central place in the Shangri-La Dialogue agenda, as it sets the theme and key areas of discussion for the entire Dialogue each year.
This year’s Shangri-La Dialogue takes place against a backdrop of increasingly complex and unpredictable global developments, with intertwined challenges ranging from strategic competition among major powers and conflicts to supply chain disruptions and non-traditional security threats.
In that context, the invitation extended by IISS Director-General and Chief Executive Bastian Giegerich for Party General Secretary and State President To Lam to attend and deliver the keynote address — the most important speech at the forum — reflects the high regard and recognition for Viet Nam’s growing role and standing in addressing regional and international issues.
The international community is also keen to hear Viet Nam’s views and approaches towards current geopolitical challenges. The event is simultaneously a significant milestone reflecting the prestige and role of Party General Secretary and State President To Lam in shaping national development and implementing foreign policy.
Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s attendance and keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue also provide an opportunity for Viet Nam’s senior leadership to convey a strong message about the country’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, resilience, multilateralisation and diversification, while affirming that Viet Nam is a friend, a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community.
Through the speech, the international community will have a further opportunity to hear Viet Nam’s perspectives and approaches to maintaining peace and stability and promoting cooperation in the region and around the world.
Known not only as a resilient nation in the struggle for national liberation, Viet Nam is steadily affirming its position on the international stage as a country deeply integrated into the world while maintaining strategic autonomy, and as an active, responsible member making substantive contributions to the international community.
Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s state visit to Singapore, along with his attendance and keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, is expected to generate fresh momentum for the substantive and effective development of Viet Nam-Singapore relations more than a year after the two countries established their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, while continuing to affirm Viet Nam’s increasingly important role, standing and prestige on the international stage.
