According to Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong, the upcoming visit of the General Secretary will lay the foundation and open new cooperation spaces for Vietnam's relations with Indonesia, Singapore and ASEAN.
According to the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 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 9-13.
On this occasion, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong gave an interview to the press before the visit.
- Could you please tell us about the outstanding results in cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore with Vietnam in recent times?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong: Indonesia and Singapore are important partners of Vietnam in the region. Over the years, political trust between Vietnam and the two countries has been increasingly consolidated, cooperation in all fields, through the channels of the Party, State, National Assembly and people has become increasingly close, effective and achieved many important results.
Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1955. The traditional friendship established by President Ho Chi Minh and President Sukarno has been continuously nurtured by generations of leaders and people of the two countries.
After 70 years, especially since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership (in 2013), cooperation between the two countries has become increasingly comprehensive and extensive. Exchanges of delegations and high-level contacts take place regularly both bilaterally and in multilateral forums.
In 2024, President Joko Widodo and then President-elect Prabowo Subianto both visited Vietnam; President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with President Prabowo Subianto on the occasion of the APEC Summit and the G20 Summit.
Our Party has official relations with the major political parties of Indonesia, namely the Career Party (Golkar) and the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Cooperation between localities has developed positively; the two sides have established four pairs of sister provinces/cities. The two countries share many interests and strategic views on regional and international issues, especially within the framework of ASEAN and the East Sea issue.
Economic cooperation between the two countries has achieved many positive results. Indonesia is Vietnam's second largest trading partner in ASEAN; Vietnam is Indonesia's fourth largest trading partner in ASEAN. Bilateral trade turnover has increased fourfold in the past decade; reaching 16.7 billion USD in 2024.
Defense and security cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia has been promoted through dialogue, exchange and joint training mechanisms; many cooperation agreements have been signed and effectively implemented in areas such as transnational crime prevention, counter-terrorism and maritime cooperation. Other important areas such as cultural cooperation, education, tourism, people-to-people exchange, etc. continue to be valued.
After more than 50 years of officially establishing diplomatic relations (1973) and 10 years of Strategic Partnership (2013), Vietnam-Singapore relations continue to develop strongly in both breadth and depth, comprehensively across Party, State, Government, National Assembly and people channels, with a high level of political trust; regular exchanges of high-level delegations and all levels.
Most recently, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Singapore and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Vietnam in 2023; National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man visited Singapore in 2024.
The two sides have effectively implemented bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the Ministerial Conference mechanism connecting the two economies. Our Party has a good cooperative relationship with the ruling People's Action Party of Singapore, regularly exchanging experiences in national construction and development and effectively coordinating in training and fostering strategic-level officials. The two countries' parliaments have cooperated well in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks.
Singapore is the economic locomotive of the region, one of the most important economic partners of Vietnam. Economic, trade and investment relations have developed vigorously, achieving many substantial achievements. Singapore is currently the largest investor of Vietnam in ASEAN and the second in the world.
One of the symbols of success is the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP). To date, there have been 18 VSIPs in 13 provinces and cities, attracting more than 18.7 billion USD in investment capital, creating jobs for more than 300,000 workers. Vietnam also has 153 investment projects in Singapore, with a total registered capital of more than 690 million USD. Bilateral trade turnover in 2024 is estimated to reach 10.3 billion USD.
In particular, the Green Economy-Digital Economy Partnership between the two countries is opening up many new prospects for bilateral cooperation in key and potential areas in the future.
In terms of security and defense, the two countries have signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement, effectively implementing cooperation in new security areas such as cyber security and cross-border crime prevention. The two countries basically share stances on international regional issues, building an international order based on international law and global standards. At the same time, Vietnam and Singapore have a close people-to-people exchange relationship. Currently, there are about 20,000 Vietnamese people studying, working and living long-term in Singapore.
These are important achievements contributing to the development achievements of each country and making the Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the two countries develop more effectively and substantially.
- Could you please tell us about the highlights and outstanding features of Vietnam's participation in ASEAN over the past 30 years?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong: It can be said that the three decades since we joined ASEAN in 1995 until now have been a journey of many memorable marks for both Vietnam and ASEAN.
Those 30 years have witnessed a Vietnam that has gradually matured, developed, become more proactive and ready to contribute more to the common work. We are proud that our contributions are closely linked to the meaningful developments of ASEAN, contributing to the consolidation of a united, self-reliant and open ASEAN Community.
Throughout its participation in ASEAN, Vietnam has always given top priority to maintaining ASEAN solidarity and unity. ASEAN’s achievements over the past 60 years are a testament to “unity is strength”; the more turbulent the situation, the brighter the spirit of solidarity, cohesion, mutual support, and working together to overcome all challenges.
Vietnam's 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship is a challenging term, but we have been very successful in our leadership role, mobilizing overall strength, joining hands to take action to help ASEAN overcome the unprecedented difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, fully reflecting the theme of "Cohesion and proactive adaptation."
Our contribution is also reflected in our responsible and proactive participation in shaping ASEAN's strategic decisions, from promoting the formation of ASEAN-10 in the late 1990s to many important documents bearing Vietnam's mark, such as the 2001 Hanoi Declaration on narrowing the development gap, the 1999-2004 Hanoi Action Plan, and the Hanoi Declaration on building the ASEAN Community Vision after 2025. In particular, we cannot fail to mention the ASEAN Future Forum 2025, which was recently held very successfully in Hanoi.
After two times of organization, this initiative has gradually become a brand of a true forum of ASEAN and for ASEAN, affirming Vietnam's leading role in shaping regional exchanges, contributing to enhancing the country's foreign relations stature.
Along with efforts to promote regional connectivity, Vietnam plays a bridging role in expanding ASEAN's foreign relations and bringing ASEAN into deeper and deeper participation in global processes.
In the role of coordinator of relations between ASEAN and many partners such as China, India, Japan, South Korea and now the UK and New Zealand, we leave a deep impression of sincerity and trust, always looking for new opportunities to optimize cooperation potential, bringing relations deeper and more effective.
The recommendations and proposals of the ASEAN Future Forum 2024 were promptly sent to the United Nations Future Summit, contributing to connecting ASEAN's common concerns with the world, reaffirming the value of multilateralism and the importance of cooperation in responding to common global issues, contributing to the goals of peace, security, stability and sustainable development.
- Could you please tell us the purpose, significance and expectations of General Secretary To Lam's official visit to Indonesia, the ASEAN Secretariat and Singapore?
Deputy Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong: This is the first visit of a Vietnamese General Secretary to Indonesia after nearly 8 years (since August 2017), to Singapore after nearly 13 years (since September 2012) and is a historic visit, also the first time a Vietnamese General Secretary has visited the ASEAN Secretariat.
The visit took place on the occasion of Vietnam's 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with Indonesia and 30 years of Vietnam joining ASEAN, a historical milestone in the process of regional and international integration.
This visit by the General Secretary demonstrates the consistent implementation of the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations, and the importance of relations with neighboring countries in the region of our Party and State, including two important partners, Indonesia and Singapore.
The visit also clearly affirms the strategic importance of ASEAN in our foreign policy, further demonstrating Vietnam's proactive, responsible, and creative spirit, with practical contributions, joining hands to realize ASEAN's future aspirations.
I believe that the upcoming visit of the General Secretary will lay the foundation and open new cooperation spaces for Vietnam's relations with Indonesia, Singapore and ASEAN.
On that basis, the visit not only strengthens political trust, deepens existing areas of cooperation between Vietnam and the two countries, between our Party and political parties in the two countries, but also creates momentum to explore new and promising areas of cooperation, especially in science and technology, digital economy, green economy, innovation, aiming to become a model in international relations, on the basis of respecting international law, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and political institutions of each country, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries, contributing to the development process of each country, to the development process of Vietnam in the era of national development.
As members of the ASEAN family, strengthening bilateral relations between Vietnam and Indonesia and Singapore, sharing a common voice on regional and international issues, will also contribute to the overall development of ASEAN, for a united, self-reliant, and developed ASEAN.
- Thank you very much, Deputy Minister!
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/mo-ra-khong-gian-hop-tac-moi-giua-viet-nam-voi-indonesia-singapore-va-asean-10301089.html
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