Fresh impetus to Vietnam – Singapore strategic partnership

This is the first State visit to Singapore by a head of state of Vietnam 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 Vietnam - Singapore Strategic Partnership.

Vietnam 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 Vietnam very early and continued to invest more in the country.

Singapore is currently one of the three major investors in Vietnam, 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 Vietnam, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, Quang Nam, and Long An.

The Vietnam-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 Vietnam.

Vietnam’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 Vietnam 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 Vietnam’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 Vietnam. 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 Vietnam.

In turn, Vietnam also provided 30,000 masks when the COVID-19 outbreak reached its peak in Singapore. Vietnamese businesses also donated 200 ventilators made in Vietnam 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 Vietnam’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.