Hanoi (VNA) – There is substantial roomfor Vietnam and Singapore to further develop their strategic partnership,according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tao Thi Thanh Huong.

The diplomat said that bilateral relations havestrongly developed over the past 45 years since the establishment of diplomaticties in 1973.

In September 2013, the two countries issued ajoint statement establishing the bilateral strategic partnership on theoccasion of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Vietnam.

The two sides have achieved many practicaloutcomes across a wide range of fields from politics, security, defence andeconomy, to education and training, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

Politically, the two countries have maintainedall-level delegation exchanges. Their leaders have close relations which arereinforced through meetings at multilateral forums.

In 2017, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid anofficial visit to Vietnam in March and also attended the APEC Economic Leaders’Meeting in Da Nang in November.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made an officialvisit to Singapore in April 2018 and also participated in the 32nd ASEAN Summithosted by the nation.

Vietnam and Singapore have worked closelytogether in the ASEAN Community to increase their role and position in thegrouping, the region, and the world at large.

They have also supported each other at regionaland international forums such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the United Nations (UN),contributing to promoting regional connectivity and narrowing the developmentgap.

Singapore supports Vietnam to become anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

The bilateral cooperation in defence and securityhas been stepped up, especially in terms of naval vessel exchanges,anti-terrorism, and cyber security.

The two sides share the same stance on strategicsecurity matters in the region, including the East Sea issue, as well as defendingthe common standpoint amongst ASEAN of regional peace and stability.

Vietnam and Singapore have also enhanced theircapacity to cope with emerging challenges and make active contributions toregional security and development.

Along with sound political ties, the bilateraleconomic, trade, and investment partnership has been made stronger over thepast few years.

Since 1996, Singapore has always been one of thebiggest trade partners of Vietnam. At present, it is the second largest tradepartner of Vietnam in ASEAN and eighth in the world. Two-way trade hit 8.3billion USD in 2017, a year-on-year rise of 8.9 percent.

Singapore’s direct investment in Vietnam hascontinuously increased in recent years. It is now the biggest investor ofVietnam in ASEAN, and third globally.

As of May 2018, Singapore ran 2,048 investmentprojects worth 45.53 billion USD in Vietnam.
So far, Singaporean firmshave poured investment in 48 out of the 63 cities and provinces in Vietnam.

Previously, Singapore primarily focused oninvestments in major cities and provinces with favourable socio-economicinfrastructure, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Binh Duong, and BacNinh. However, in recent years, Singaporean businesses have expanded investmentsinto other localities including Quang Ngai, Quang Tri, Nghe An, Thai Nguyen,Thanh Hoa, and Binh Dinh.

The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP),invested in by the Sembcorp group over the past two decades, has becomesymbolic of the win-win economic cooperation.

These parks have generated over 220,000 jobs forlocals and developed various fields such as infrastructure, processing andmanufacturing industry, construction, production, trade, property, andservices.

The bilateral economic partnership could witnessnew movements in the time to come. Vietnam needs to boost collaboration withSingapore in the fields of digital economy, high technology, building and facilitatinggovernment, smart urban planning, e-commerce services, finance, banking,logistics, green energy, and renewable energy.

The bilateral cooperation in education and training,tourism, labour, culture, and people-to-people exchanges has been expanded,contributing to enhancing the mutual understanding of the two peoples.

Close to 9,000 Vietnamese students are learningin Singapore, serving as a bridge to promote the two countries’ friendship.

Ambassador Huong said the upcoming path stillhas a lot of challenges, which requires Vietnamese and Singaporean ministries,relevant departments, and localities to further cooperation to elevate thebilateral partnership to a new height. –VNA