Ambassador Tran Phuoc Anh highlights significance of General Secretary, President To Lam's state visit to Singapore
WVR - On the occasion of General Secretary, President To Lam's state visit to Singapore (May 29-31), delivering a keynote speech at the Shangri-la Dialogue, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Phuoc Anh shared with The Word and Vietnam Report the significance and key focuses of the visit.
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| The welcoming ceremony for General Secretary To Lam's official visit to the Republic of Singapore in March 2025. (Source: VNA) |
Ambassador, could you share the significance and main focuses of this state visit to Singapore by General Secretary, President To Lam?
This visit holds special and significant meaning. It is special because Singapore is the first ASEAN country that General Secretary, President To Lam is visiting at the state level after the restructuring of key leadership, demonstrating the importance that the Party and State of Vietnam place on Singapore – a leading important partner of Vietnam in Southeast Asia.
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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Phuoc Anh. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore) |
The visit takes place just over a year after General Secretary To Lam's official visit to Singapore in March 2025, where the relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This demonstrates the determination of the leaders of both sides to effectively implement the content of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The visit also occurs as both Vietnam and Singapore are entering new development phases with long-term strategic visions, determined to innovate and build resilient, green, and digital economies.
Finally, during this visit, the General Secretary, President will deliver a keynote speech at the Shangri-la Dialogue 2026, a significant regional security forum, highlighting Vietnam's increasingly important role, position, and voice in the eyes of international friends, especially amidst profound geopolitical changes in the world today.
Regarding the main focuses, I believe the visit will concentrate on several major areas:
Firstly, further deepening political trust and enhancing strategic exchanges between high-level leaders of the two countries, particularly through the Party channel.
Secondly, promoting drivers, committing resources, and creating new growth momentum in bilateral cooperation, especially in digital economy, green transition, innovation, and high-quality human resource development.
Thirdly, expanding substantive cooperation between ministries, sectors, localities, research institutes, schools, and business communities of the two countries in science, technology, and innovation. The visit will include the Vietnam-Singapore Tech Connect 2026 Forum.
Fourthly, enhancing coordination in multilateral mechanisms, especially in ASEAN, as Singapore will chair ASEAN next year and Vietnam will host the APEC summit, contributing to strengthening ASEAN's unity, central role, and promoting a peaceful, stable, cooperative, and developing environment in the region.
How do you assess the frequency of high-level contacts between the two countries recently, and what significance does this have in promoting the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, aiming to make Vietnam-Singapore relations a model of cooperation in the region?
It can be said that recently, Vietnam-Singapore relations have witnessed a vibrant, substantive, and effective frequency of delegation exchanges and high-level contacts.
High-level leaders of the two countries maintain regular contacts through bilateral visits as well as on the sidelines of regional and international forums. In 2025 alone, our General Secretary met with the Secretary-General of the People's Action Party twice, and the Prime Ministers of the two countries met four times, along with numerous phone calls between the leaders of both sides.
This reflects, first and foremost, the very high level of political trust, the close bond between the leaders of the two countries, as well as the increasingly deep strategic consensus on many regional and international issues.
Particularly, the elevation of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has opened up new cooperation space with greater scope and depth. In this, high-level contacts play a "strategic orientation" role, creating strong political momentum and impetus for ministries, sectors, businesses, and localities to implement specific cooperation.
I believe that the current Vietnam-Singapore relationship has many factors to become a model of cooperation in the region: high political trust; intertwined strategic interests; strong complementarity between the two economies; similar development visions; and especially a shared emphasis on international law, free trade, and ASEAN's central role.
If previously cooperation mainly focused on trade and investment, now the relationship is shifting strongly towards strategic and future-oriented fields such as innovation, green economy, digital economy, energy transition, data centers, AI, fintech, and high-quality human resource development.
I am confident that, with the high political determination of the leaders of both countries and the very favorable cooperation foundation currently in place, Vietnam-Singapore relations will continue to develop strongly, substantively, and effectively in the future.
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| General Secretary To Lam attending the Vietnam-Singapore Business Forum in March 2025. (Source: VNA) |
Singapore is striving to achieve the "Singapore Dream" and Vietnam is also making efforts to realize its aspiration for prosperity. Could the Ambassador share the prominent new cooperation directions between the two countries to jointly achieve development and growth goals in the new phase?
Vietnam and Singapore, although having different scales and development conditions, share many similarities in development thinking: both consider people, science and technology, innovation, and international integration as key drivers for long-term growth.
In the context of the world undergoing strong restructuring of supply chains, rapid digital and green transitions, I believe the two countries have many new potential cooperation areas.
First is cooperation in science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. Singapore has strengths in technology, finance, management, and innovation ecosystems, while Vietnam has a dynamic market, young workforce, and rapid development potential. The two sides can complement each other well in areas such as AI, semiconductors, data, fintech, cybersecurity, innovation centers, and startups.
Secondly is cooperation in green transition and energy. This will be one of the very important cooperation pillars in the coming time. Singapore has a large demand for clean energy and carbon credits, while Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy, especially offshore wind and solar power. The two countries can promote cooperative projects in electricity connectivity, clean energy development, green finance, and carbon markets.
Thirdly is cooperation in developing high-quality human resources. Singapore has very commendable experience in training human resources for the knowledge economy. Meanwhile, Vietnam is entering a new development phase with a great demand for high-tech, modern management, and digital skills workforce. This is a field of cooperation with long-term strategic significance.
Additionally, cooperation in connecting businesses, international financial centers, logistics, seaports, aviation, and building sustainable supply chains will continue to be very potential cooperation directions.
The important thing is that both countries have long-term visions, high political trust, and both wish to prosper together. This is the important foundation for the two countries to realize their development goals in the new phase.
Amid geopolitical and economic fluctuations in the region and globally, how does the Ambassador assess the need for connectivity and cooperation between the two countries specifically, and within the multilateral framework such as ASEAN in general, to jointly address challenges and seize opportunities?
The world is experiencing profound and unpredictable changes. Strategic competition among major countries is increasing, economic fragmentation trends, supply chain disruptions, especially in energy, non-traditional security challenges, and technological transitions are posing many new challenges for countries, especially medium and small ones.
In this context, the need to enhance connectivity, cooperation, and strengthen strategic trust among countries becomes more urgent than ever.
For Vietnam and Singapore, the two countries have many strategic interests in maintaining a peaceful, stable environment, free navigation, open trade, and a rules-based regional order. Therefore, enhancing bilateral and multilateral coordination not only serves the interests of each country but also contributes to the stability and development of the region.
ASEAN continues to play a particularly important role in the shaping regional architecture. Amid increasing major power competition, ASEAN's central role, unity, and common voice need to be reinforced.
Vietnam and Singapore are both active, proactive, and responsible members of ASEAN. The two countries can coordinate more closely to promote ASEAN's common priorities such as enhancing economic integration, digital transformation, green transition, improving supply chain resilience, especially ensuring energy security, narrowing development gaps, and promoting free trade.
At the same time, the two countries should continue to coordinate closely in other multilateral mechanisms such as APEC, CPTPP, RCEP, and the United Nations to protect multilateralism, promote international cooperation, and effectively respond to global challenges.
I believe that, with the very good relationship foundation currently in place and similar strategic visions, Vietnam and Singapore will continue to be important partners for each other, contributing positively to the peace, stability, and development of the region and the world.
Thank you very much, Ambassador!
