Singapore,July 9 (AseanAll) —Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry paid an official visit to Vietnam from July 5 to 7 to meet his Vietnamese counterparts and witness the signing of 12 agreements between Vietnam and Singapore.
Photo source: Vietnamese government portal(VGP)
According to Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, Second Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng in his official visit to Vietnam met with counterparts and reaffirmed Singapore’s position as an important trade and investment partner to Vietnam. Tan met Chairman of the Central Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh; Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai; Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung; Minister of Investment and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung; and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Kuoc Khanh.
Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai meets Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng Photo source: Vietnamese government portal(VGP)
The Ministers discussed cooperation in emerging areas, including renewable energy, sustainability and innovation, as well as expanding the scope of the 17th Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Ministerial Meeting (CMM) to cover these areas when held later this year.
The meetings also discussed potential collaboration opportunities in green finance, digital economy, talent exchanges and agri-trade flows.
During his visit, Tan attended the 7th Singapore Regional Business Forum (SRBF), organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) on 7 July. Over 420 companies and organisations attended the event inperson and virtually.
Photo source: Vietnamese government portal(VGP)
As the co-Guest-of-Honour, Tan delivered the opening keynote address where he emphasised the growth potential of Southeast Asia in Digital Economy and Green Economy, and how Singapore and Vietnam can expand our partnerships in innovation, energy and sustainability. He also cowitnessed the signing of 12 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and the launch of the SBF-United Overseas Bank (UOB) Joint Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative 1 at the event. The newly inked partnerships in sustainability, digitalisation, financial services and human capital development highlight the mutual interest between the Singapore and Vietnam entities to deepen collaboration.
Tan also participated in a “In Conversation” segment at the forum together with Minister Dung, where he reiterated the importance of free trade and economic regional integration, cross border digital flows, and partnerships in the green and digital economy.
Tan said, “Singapore and Vietnam’s economic relations are strong and substantive. This is evidenced by the strong turnout at the 7th Singapore Regional Business Forum, held for the first time outside of Singapore. As we commemorate 50 years of our diplomatic relations and 10th year of Strategic Partnership, we must continue to deepen our economic partnerships, both at the government-to-government and business-to-business levels, particularly in emerging areas of innovation, energy connectivity and sustainability. I look forward to strengthening Singapore-Vietnam relations and uncovering synergies in new areas of sustainability and innovation at the 17th Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Ministerial Meeting later this year.”
Singapore companies have steadily expanded their investments in Vietnam, in diversified sectors including logistics, infrastructure, manufacturing and consumer goods and services. Looking ahead, the MoU on Green-Digital Economic Partnership signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment on the sidelines of Vietnam Prime Minister H.E. Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to Singapore in February 2023, will set the foundation for future collaborations between companies from both countries in the green and digital economies.
In 2022, bilateral trade between both countries reached S$31.3 billion, a 16.4% increase y-o-y. Vietnam was also Singapore’s 11th largest trading partner in 2022. By flow, Singapore was Vietnam’s largest foreign investor in 2022 with US$6.46 billion, accounting for 23.3% of Vietnam’s total foreign capital investments 2. As of December 2022, Singapore's cumulative investments into Vietnam stood at US$70.8 billion3.
At the regional level, Singapore and Vietnam are like-minded partners and are members of multilateral Free Trade Agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
