At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Prabowo Subianto, Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn and Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Secretary-General of the Singapore People's Action Party (PAP) Lawrence Wong, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife will pay a State visit to the Republic of Indonesia, an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat and an official visit to the Republic of Singapore from March 9 to March 13, 2025.
Speaking to the press ahead of General Secretary To Lam's visit to Singapore, Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam stressed that this is a historic visit for Singapore, at a time when the two countries are aiming to elevate their relationship to the highest level. With a deep relationship that has been built on a long-standing foundation, as Vietnam moves towards a new era of development, Singapore and Vietnam will also become partners for the new era.
- Could the Ambassador comment on the significance and highlights of the visit?
Singapore and Vietnam have a very strong and excellent relationship.
Two years ago, in 2023, we celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership. So we were looking forward to General Secretary To Lam's visit to Singapore. His visit to Singapore was a historic visit for us, as the last visit by a General Secretary was in 2012. This is an important stage in the relationship and also the stage where we are aiming to take the relationship to a new level - the highest level.
In terms of our two countries’ relations and the world, Mr. To Lam’s visit to Singapore comes at a historic time. This year, Vietnam celebrates 80 years of independence and Singapore celebrates 60 years of national independence. Meanwhile, the world is going through a very, very difficult period, especially when the multilateral and open system, on which Vietnam and Singapore rely for peace and prosperity, is under severe pressure.
In this context, our leaders look forward to welcoming His Excellency To Lam to Singapore, and discussing with him how Singapore and Vietnam can cooperate and engage each other in new areas, so that we can emerge stronger, in the current situation that we are all facing around the world.
Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam.
- Ambassador, could you tell us how the bilateral relationship is expected to develop as Vietnam moves towards a new era?
The relationship is facing common challenges: the digital transformation, the energy transition. The need for us to work together and support each other has never been stronger.
As Vietnam positions itself for a new era of high economic growth, we are on solid footing. In 2023, we launched our green and digital partnership. We have an excellent, strong and growing trade and economic relationship. Over the past three years, Singapore has been Vietnam’s largest source of foreign direct investment. In 2024, Singapore’s cumulative investment in Vietnam reached about US$80 billion, spread across nearly 4,000 projects in Vietnam. Vietnam was Singapore’s 11th largest trading partner last year. In January this year, you were our 9th largest trading partner, showing very strong momentum in the relationship.
As we look to the future, especially as Vietnam moves into a new era, our common motto is partners for a new era. With Singapore and Vietnam being long-standing partners, we continue to be partners for this new era.
When we look around at projects that could be symbols of the Singapore-Vietnam relationship, we all look at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks. Currently, there are 18 industrial parks in Vietnam spread across 13 provinces. In total, the projects represent about US$22 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) and support 300,000 jobs. But in reality, when you look at these numbers, this FDI and jobs are actually only happening in 10 projects. The other eight projects are actually under construction. So in the coming years, we will see more investment coming into Vietnam through these projects and more jobs.
General Secretary To Lam and his wife. (Photo: VNA)
More importantly, as Vietnam moves into a new era, we also want our projects, the Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks, to move into a new and upgraded era, both in terms of sustainability and innovation.
You can look at the latest industrial park in Binh Duong, Binh Duong III by Lego, and Lego will be the first green manufacturing facility in Vietnam. We are looking at new industrial parks that will support Vietnam's high-tech ambitions and also sustainable growth.
Moving forward, we are also looking at how we can expand our relationship in new areas, such as food, innovation and energy. As we look to expand our relationship with Vietnam, we see the Vietnam-Singapore relationship and what we do together, the platforms that we create, as a basis or pathway for other ASEAN countries to join.
A good example is the Vietnam-Singapore Energy Project, VSEP, similar to the VSIP that we launched 30 years ago. This is a project that both countries are implementing to develop Vietnam’s abundant renewable energy resources, especially offshore wind power, so that Vietnam can participate in the ASEAN Power Grid. This ASEAN Power Grid will connect all ASEAN countries together to help us achieve energy security and our common goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
- How has the long-standing relationship between the two countries been continued through these milestones, Ambassador?
We have a deep relationship that will only get better in the years to come, and this relationship is only possible because we have a strong foundation. The people-to-people relationship is excellent. We welcome more than 20,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Singapore. We have a lot of Singaporeans coming to Vietnam, whether for work or for tourism.
Vietnam is one of the favorite destinations for Singaporeans and Vietnamese food is very popular. When you come to Singapore, you will see Vietnamese restaurants and shops everywhere.
But equally important are the close political ties between our two countries. His Excellency To Lam’s visit next week will reinforce and strengthen these political ties.
These long-standing political ties were actually built on the relationship between Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and former Vietnamese Prime Minister Mr. Vo Van Kiet in the 1990s, where they established principles.
Some of those principles are mutual support, mutual respect and most importantly mutual trust. This solid foundation gives us the basis to move forward and become partners for the new era.
Vtcnews.vn
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/dai-su-jaya-ratnam-viet-nam-singapore-la-doi-tac-ky-nguyen-moi-ar930509.html
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