General Secretary, President To Lam to deliver keynote speech at Shangri-La Dialogue: Deputy FM Nguyen Manh Cuong
WVR - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong gives an interview ahead of the State visit to Singapore and the keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue by General Secretary, President To Lam (May 29-31).
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| Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong gave interview ahead of General Secretary, President To Lam's state visit to Singapore and attendance at Shangri-La Dialogue. (Photo: Bao Chi) |
Reflecting on over half a century of Vietnam-Singapore relations, which areas of cooperation do you consider the most symbolic and strategically deep between the two nations?
Vietnam and Singapore are two nations with a dynamic, substantive, and effective friendship and cooperation in Southeast Asia.
Over more than half a century of development, the relationship between the two countries has been continuously strengthened, expanded, and deepened, becoming a successful cooperation model within ASEAN.
The establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2013 and its upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2025 marks a significant development, reflecting high political trust, increasingly profound shared interests, and a common strategic vision in the new context.
The most prominent highlight in Vietnam-Singapore relations is economic, trade, and investment cooperation. Singapore is currently one of Vietnam's leading economic partners and the second-largest investor in Vietnam with over 4,500 active projects and a total registered capital of nearly 97 billion USD.
Singapore's projects span various fields such as processing and manufacturing industries, infrastructure, logistics, real estate, finance, high technology, and modern services, contributing positively to economic growth, job creation, and economic restructuring in Vietnam.
A notable symbol of successful bilateral cooperation is the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) system. From the first VSIP, the network has now expanded to many localities across the country. The VSIPs are not only an effective economic cooperation model but have also become a symbol of trust, long-term vision, and strategic connection between the two countries. In the new phase, the VSIPs are moving towards greener, smarter models with higher technology content and sustainable development.
Another very important highlight is cooperation in emerging fields and in-depth cooperation. Singapore is a leading nation in ASEAN in innovation, digital transformation, digital economy, finance, modern governance, and high-quality human resource development. Vietnam and Singapore are currently promoting extensive cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, semiconductor technology, clean energy, green transition, and financial center development.
In particular, the two countries are promoting technology connectivity and innovation initiatives to connect technology ecosystems, innovation centers, technology enterprises, and high-quality human resources between the two countries. This is a long-term strategic cooperation direction, suitable for Vietnam's development needs and Singapore's strengths.
Cooperation in human resource training and governance capacity enhancement is also a strategically deep field. For many years, Singapore has supported Vietnam in training leaders, managers, and high-quality human resources through many practical cooperation programs. These cooperations not only bring direct benefits but also contribute to strengthening strategic connectivity and mutual understanding between the two countries.
The political and diplomatic relations between the two countries are also increasingly close. Both sides regularly maintain delegation exchanges, high-level contacts, and close coordination at regional and international forums, especially within ASEAN. Vietnam and Singapore share interests in maintaining a peaceful, stable environment, open trade, free navigation, and ASEAN's central role in the regional architecture.
It can be said that Vietnam-Singapore relations today are not only limited to traditional economic cooperation but are developing in a strategic depth, oriented towards future fields, contributing positively to the sustainable development of each country and regional ASEAN integration.
Could you share the key cooperation focuses and prominent expectations from General Secretary, President To Lam's State visit to Singapore, especially in technology, innovation, and new-generation economic connectivity?
The State visit to Singapore by General Secretary, President To Lam holds special significance in continuing to implement and concretize the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
The visit takes place in the context of a very positive bilateral relationship, while both countries face the need to renew growth models, enhance competitiveness, and adapt to the rapid shifts of the global economy.
First, the visit is expected to further consolidate political trust and elevate strategic coordination between the two countries. In the context of regional and global volatility, Vietnam and Singapore's regular high-level exchanges, shared development vision, and enhanced coordination at multilateral forums are of great importance.
Economically, both sides expect to further promote investment, trade, finance, and supply chain connectivity. Singapore has strengths in technology, finance, logistics, and modern governance, while Vietnam has a dynamic market, abundant human resources, and high growth rates. This complementarity creates significant room for joint development in the new phase.
A key focus of the visit is to promote deeper and more substantive cooperation in science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation. Both sides are expected to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, big data, semiconductor technology, smart cities, digital economy, digital government, and green transition. These are all strategically significant areas for Vietnam's long-term development.
Technology connectivity and innovation initiatives like "Tech Connect" are also expected to lay a new foundation for cooperation between the three "Houses" of the two countries (government, scientists, businesses), including management agencies, research institutes, universities, technology enterprises, and innovation centers. This is a long-term strategic cooperation direction, contributing to forming a deeper technology cooperation space in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, big data, green technology, and high-quality human resource training, in line with the current digital economy and green transition trends.
The visit is also expected to create new momentum for new-generation VSIPs towards greener, smarter, and more sustainable directions, in line with global development trends and the sustainable development goals of both countries.
During the visit to Singapore, General Secretary, President To Lam will deliver a keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Could you elaborate on the significance and key messages of this speech for the region and the international community?
The Shangri-La Dialogue is the leading security forum in the Asia-Pacific region, organized annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore, bringing together many world leaders, defense ministers, scholars, and top strategic experts. This forum holds significant prestige and influence on peace, security, and regional architecture issues.
In the current world context, undergoing profound changes, issues such as strategic competition among major powers, regional conflicts, supply chain disruptions, maritime security, technological transformation, and non-traditional security challenges are of particular concern to the international community.
The invitation for General Secretary, President To Lam to deliver the keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue – the most important speech of the forum – demonstrates the international community's respect and high regard for Vietnam's growing role, position, and prestige, as well as the role and prestige of General Secretary, President To Lam. It also reflects the interest of countries in Vietnam's independent, self-reliant, peaceful, cooperative, and developmental foreign policy.
Vietnam is currently seen as a deeply integrated economy that maintains strategic autonomy; a dynamic developing nation with a strong aspiration to rise; and an active, responsible member of the international and regional community.
The speech by the General Secretary, President is expected to convey Vietnam's perspectives and messages to other countries on addressing strategic challenges for peace, stability, and sustainable development in the emerging regional architecture.
In summary, the keynote speech by the General Secretary, President at Shangri-La reaffirms Vietnam's increasingly important role, position, and contributions to peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.
