Huong said the April 25-28 visit, the first by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, reiterates the Vietnamese government’s policy of valuing the strategic partnership with Singapore and strengthening trust in bilateral ties. During the visit, the two sides will discuss new orientations and approaches with a view to making breakthroughs in their relationship as well as enhancing coordination in regional and global issues of shared concern.
While in Singapore, the Vietnamese PM will also attend the 32nd ASEAN Summit, proving Vietnam’s strong support for the host country in its capacity as ASEAN Chair to promote the bloc’s solidarity, unity and maintain ASEAN’s central role in an open, transparent and rule-based regional architecture.
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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong |
According to the ambassador, bilateral links have grown strongly and effectively via the Party, National Assembly and Government channels and people-to-people exchange. Both sides actively worked to develop strategic partnership across politics, economy, national defense-security, education-training, and culture.
Vietnam and Singapore have maintained the regular exchange of delegations and exchanges at all levels, worked closely together at regional and global forums, making active contributions to promoting regional connectivity, narrowing development gap, improving capacity to effectively and promptly cope with emerging challenges for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
The two countries also coordinate in ASEAN to increasingly enhance their roles and stature in the bloc and the world, contributing to maintaining ASEAN’s central role in the regional security architecture.
Singapore is now the largest ASEAN investor and the third world largest in Vietnam with nearly 2,000 projects worth nearly USD 42 billion. The country has so far invested in 46 out of 63 Vietnamese cities and provinces, contributing to socio-economic development in disadvantaged localities.
The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks invested by Singapore’s Sembcorp have become a symbol of the successful and mutually-beneficially collaboration between the two countries over the past two decades.
In trade, Singapore is Vietnam’s second largest trade partner in ASEAN and the sixth largest globally. Two-way trade rose by 8.9 percent annually last year to roughly USD 17 billion.
National defense-security ties have been expanded, particularly in the exchange of naval vessels, anti-terrorism and cyber security.
Links across education-training, tourism, labor, culture and people-to-people exchange have also developed, helping raise mutual understanding between the two peoples.
Ambassador Huong suggested enhancing partnership in finance-banking, high technology, digital technology, urban development and services.
In order to achieve balanced trade, she urged Singapore to make it easier for Vietnamese goods to enter the country, especially agro-forestry-aquatic products, processed food, leather and footwear, wooden furniture and construction materials.
Vietnam encourages Singapore investment in infrastructure, garbage treatment, water resources management, environment, renewable energy, liquefied gas and smart grid, she said.
She proposed increasing training coordination to improve skills of Vietnamese workers, expanding cruise tourism and aviation cooperation by launching direct flights to Vietnam’s popular destinations.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore commits itself to work closely with the two countries’ departments and agencies to best prepare for the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of bilateral strategic partnership in the two countries, as well as trade promotion programs to lift bilateral ties to a greater height, she said.
Source: VNA