Vietnam-Singapore: Substantive and effective strategic partnership

More than 5 decades of good traditional friendship

Going back in time, right after the Paris Agreement on restoring peace in Vietnam was signed (January 1973), Singapore was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) on August 1, 1973.

In 2013, Singapore became one of the first ASEAN member countries to establish a Strategic Partnership with Vietnam, opening a new era of mutually beneficial cooperation, respect and trust between the two countries.

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew welcomed Prime Minister Pham Van Dong on an official friendship visit to Singapore on October 16, 1978. During the visit, the two sides issued a Joint Statement affirming the guiding principles of the relationship. (Photo: Xuan Lam/VNA)

Since the two countries established a Strategic Partnership in September 2013, Vietnam-Singapore relations have deepened on all five pillars: deepening political relations of mutual trust; strengthening economic cooperation; enhancing security and defense cooperation; promoting cooperation in other fields and enhancing cooperation at international and multilateral forums.

Singapore was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam on August 1, 1973.

Over the past time, the relationship between the two countries has developed strongly and effectively through all channels of the Party, National Assembly, Government and people-to-people exchange. Despite the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides have maintained effective and flexible exchanges of delegations and contacts at high and all levels.

Maintaining the annual political consultation mechanism at the Deputy Foreign Minister level has helped enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two Foreign Ministries, creating opportunities for the two sides to exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual concern and cooperation between the two Foreign Ministries.

In addition to bilateral cooperation, the two countries have also cooperated and coordinated closely at regional and international forums, actively contributing to promoting regional connectivity and linkages, narrowing the development gap, enhancing the capacity to respond effectively and promptly to emerging challenges, and actively contributing to efforts to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The two sides also closely coordinate within ASEAN to continuously enhance the role and position of the two countries in ASEAN as well as in the world, contributing to maintaining ASEAN's central role in the regional security structure.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong receives Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on an official visit to Vietnam (Hanoi, March 23, 2017). (Photo: Tri Dung/VNA)

Defense and security cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore has been increasingly strengthened. The two sides maintain high-level delegation exchanges and existing annual dialogue and cooperation mechanisms.

The two sides also regularly share views on strategic security issues in the region, including the East Sea issue; protect ASEAN's common stance for peace and stability in the region; enhance the capacity to respond effectively and promptly to emerging challenges, and actively contribute to security and development in the region.

Cooperation between the two National Assemblies has also been strengthened in recent times. The Chairmen of the National Assemblies of both sides held an online meeting in July 2021 to discuss substantive cooperation between the two legislative bodies.

General Secretary To Lam had a phone call with Secretary General of the People's Action Party (PAP) and Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

In May 2022, when former Speaker of the National Assembly Tan Chuan-Jin visited Vietnam, the two countries' parliaments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation, opening up many prospects for cooperation between the two parliaments, contributing to promoting and making the relationship between the two countries more substantive.

Recently, on the occasion of attending the 45th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Southeast Asian Nations (AIPA-45) in Vientiane (Laos) on October 19, 2024, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man met with Chairman of the National Assembly of Singapore Seah Kian Peng. The leaders of the two sides agreed to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level parliamentary delegations, young parliamentarians' groups, and women parliamentarians' groups; continue to promote coordination mechanisms at multilateral parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF)...; support each other's stance on

With the increasingly close ties between the people of the two countries, continued promotion of cooperation will make the Vietnam-Singapore relationship develop more substantively and effectively, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries, contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong witnessed the signing ceremony of the "Joint Statement on the Framework of Comprehensive Cooperation in the 21st Century" between the two countries (Singapore, March 8, 2004). (Photo: The Thuan/VNA)

Economic, trade and investment cooperation is constantly developing.

Along with good political relations, economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries has been constantly developing in both breadth and depth in recent years. Vietnam-Singapore economic and trade cooperation is one of the bright spots in the Southeast Asian region.

Economic, trade and investment cooperation is an area in which the two countries have achieved many successes. Since 1996, Singapore has always been one of Vietnam's largest partners. Trade turnover between the two countries has increased every year, reaching 8.3 billion USD in 2021; over 9.16 billion USD in 2022; 9 billion USD in 2023; and 8.64 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2024.

A shipment of 1,200-ton modules, manufactured by Doosan Enerbility Vietnam Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Doosan Vina) in Dung Quat Economic Zone (Quang Ngai), was shipped to Singapore. (Photo: VNA)

As two complementary economies, Vietnam and Singapore promote the implementation of trade agreements to which they are parties to enhance bilateral economic cooperation. As members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Vietnam and Singapore effectively exploit the benefits of new-generation free trade agreements, contributing to the economic recovery of each country, as well as that of the region after the pandemic.

In terms of investment, as of October 2024, Singapore maintained its leading position in ASEAN, ranking 2nd out of 148 countries and territories investing in Vietnam (after South Korea), with 3,838 valid projects, total registered capital reaching 81.1 billion USD. Singapore's investment projects are present in many provinces and cities of Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh City, followed by Hanoi, Bac Ninh... focusing on the following areas: processing and manufacturing industry; real estate business; production and distribution of electricity, gas, water, air conditioners.

Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) are symbols of economic cooperation between the two countries. From the first Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) launched in 1996 in Binh Duong, to date, Vietnam is the country where Singapore has built the most industrial parks in the world with 18 VSIPs in 10 provinces and cities, attracting more than 18 billion USD in investment capital and about 900 projects, creating jobs for more than 300,000 workers. VSIPs are truly beacons of economic cooperation between the two countries, not only contributing to promoting industrialization and modernization in Vietnam, but also contributing to the supply chain and economic connectivity in the region.

Automotive Technology class at Vietnam-Singapore Vocational College. (Photo: Anh Tuan/VNA)

Notably, Singapore is the first country with which Vietnam established a Digital Economy - Green Economy Partnership during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Singapore in February 2023. Previously, in October 2022, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on carbon credit cooperation, in line with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Digital Economy - Green Economy Partnership framework has affirmed the two countries' strong determination and commitment to promoting innovation, reducing emissions and promoting sustainable development.

At the same time, this also opens up many great opportunities for the two countries to strengthen economic connectivity in potential areas such as digital economy, circular economy, innovation, clean energy, climate change response, etc., which is not only beneficial for Vietnam and Singapore but also for the whole region.

For Vietnam and many countries in the world, Singapore is a model of aspiration to rise up, efforts to study and innovate, respect for talents, building a disciplined society and a development-oriented government... Singapore has shared many of its ideas and development lessons, always accompanying Vietnam in the process of national innovation and development.

Experts in Singapore said that Vietnam-Singapore cooperation is now considered a model of bilateral cooperation in Southeast Asia and there is still a lot of room for further enhancement, especially in emerging areas of cooperation in digital economy, green economy, renewable energy, carbon credits, financial cooperation, etc.

In the field of education and training, in order to help Vietnam strengthen human resource training, at the initiative of Singapore, on November 28, 2001, the Vietnam-Singapore Training Center (VSTC) was established in Hanoi, funded by the Singaporean Government, with the goal of helping Vietnam quickly integrate into the region and the world, while meeting Vietnam's urgent need for training officials. The two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Vietnam-Singapore educational cooperation, creating a legal basis to further promote cooperation between the two countries.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung symbolically presented medical supplies to the Government and people of Singapore to prevent and combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Hanoi on May 18, 2020. (Photo: Van Diep/VNA)

The Joint Statement establishing the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership also affirmed to continue promoting educational cooperation under the Singapore cooperation program, VSTC and the Vietnam-Singapore Center for Excellence in Education (VSCEE).

After more than 20 years of cooperation, hundreds of Vietnamese students have received scholarships and financial aid from Singapore and have become experts, government officials, and successful businessmen. This is a valuable human resource, an important bridge for the diverse cooperation relationship between Vietnam and Singapore. The two countries have determined that through educational and training cooperation, they will strengthen comprehensive cooperation to promote the increasingly close friendship and cooperation between the two countries, contributing to enhancing understanding and mutual assistance worthy of the strategic partnership.

In terms of transportation, Singapore is one of the aviation markets of particular importance to Vietnam, with the number of passengers arriving in Vietnam ranking 6th (according to 2019 data). Currently, Vietnam-Singapore airlines have restored regular commercial passenger flights between the two countries with an agreed frequency of 14 flights/week for each side (the actual operating frequency in the coming time will depend on the needs of each country).

Cooperation in other fields such as finance-banking, education-training, and natural resources-environment between the two countries continues to be strengthened.

Currently, the Vietnamese community in Singapore has about 13,000 people. In general, the Vietnamese community in Singapore is an intellectual community, strictly obeys local laws and always looks towards their homeland, serving as a bridge for friendship between the people of the two countries./.