President's State visit: Fresh impetus to Viet Nam – Singapore strategic partnership
State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse is scheduled to lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to visit Singapore from Feb. 24 - 26 at the invitation of President Halimah Yacob.
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This is the first State visit to Singapore by a head of state of Viet Nam since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The visit is expected to add fresh impetus to bilateral relations, especially to cooperation in economic recovery of the two countries, so as to deepen the Viet Nam - Singapore Strategic Partnership.
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| Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) met Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Bangkok, June 2019. (Photo: Straits Times) |
Viet Nam attaches great importance to fostering the strategic partnership with Singapore, with a particular focus on economic cooperation. When its open door policy was introduced, Singaporean investors came to Viet Nam very early and continued to invest more in the country.
Singapore is currently one of the three major investors in Viet Nam, pouring a total of US$66 billion in nearly 2,900 projects. Its investment capital has been present in 18 out of 21 industries and 51 out of 63 localities in Viet Nam, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, Quang Nam, and Long An.
The Viet Nam-Singapore industrial park (VSIP) is considered a symbol of effective economic cooperation between the two countries. Singaporean businesses have so far injected US$14 billion in industrial parks in Viet Nam.
The Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), a joint venture project between Viet Nam and Singapore's Sembcorp Group, is considered a symbol of effective economic cooperation between the two countries.
The Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), a joint venture project between Viet Nam and Singapore's Sembcorp Group, is considered a symbol of effective economic cooperation between the two countries.
Viet Nam’s signing a number of new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) with partners presents plenty of opportunity for Singaporean investors to penetrate the world’s vast market with many incentives and advantages. Last year saw two-way trade between Viet Nam and Singapore rose more than 23% compared to the previous year reaching US$8.3 billion.
The two countries have also cooperated effectively in other fields of defense - security, transportation, finance - banking, education - training, natural resources and the environment. Notably, Singapore was Viet Nam’s sixth largest aviation market in 2019 before the COVID-19 disease broke out.
With regard to the COVID-19 fight, Singapore is one of the first ASEAN countries to provide medical equipment and supplies to Viet Nam. It has so far donated major medical equipment worth nearly US$5 million to the country. The Singaporean government recently announced its decision to donate 122,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the Government of Viet Nam.
In turn, Viet Nam also provided 30,000 masks when the COVID-19 outbreak reached its peak in Singapore. Vietnamese businesses also donated 200 ventilators made in Viet Nam to the Singaporean Government.
Those effective cooperation gains lay a firm foundation for the two countries to further promote their strategic partnership in the future. President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit aims to affirm Viet Nam’s resolve to develop the post-pandemic economy and create a favourable business and investment environment for Singaporean investors, as well as to seek new areas of cooperation between the two countries.
(Source: VOV)
