Singapore’s President S.R Nathan and his wife are on an official visit to Vietnam from February 25-29 at the invitation of Vietnam’s State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

This is the second visit to Vietnam by Mr S.R Nathan in his capacity as Singapore’s President.

Situated in the south pole of the Malaysian peninsular with 54 islands and a total area of 692.7 km2, Singapore does not have natural resources, material and fresh water while only having a small volume of coal, lead, mineral and clay.

Due to limited farming land area and underdeveloped agriculture, the country annually has to import food to meet the domestic demand. However, Singapore is called a dynamic small island and the “Dragon of Asia” as it is second to none in developing infrastructure and a number of industrial sectors in the region and the world such as sea ports, shipbuilding industry, oil refinery, processing, electronics and sophisticated machinery assembling.

With a national population of less than 4.5 million and per capita income of approximately US$33,000, Singapore is seen as a country taking the lead in building a knowledge-based economy. It is carrying out a plan to turn itself into a leading city in the world, a link to the new network of global and Asian economies and a diversified, sensitive business economy. Singapore’s external policy gives priority to building a stable and peaceful environment in Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific region, maintaining a free multilateral trade system and an open economy and boosting cooperation with other nations for common benefit.

Vietnam and Singapore established their diplomatic ties on August 1, 1973. The Embassy of Vietnam in Singapore and the Embassy of Singapore in Hanoi were set up in December, 1991 and in September, 1992, respectively.

Since 1991, particularly after Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July, 1995, relations between the two countries have ushered in a new period of development.

The two sides have conducted regular exchanges of high-level visits. The most recent events were Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Singapore in August, 2007, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law Shunmugam Jayakumar’s visit to Vietnam in the same period and senior Minister Goh Chok Tong’s visit to Vietnam in December, 2007.

In terms of trade and investment, two-way trade turnover sees a year-on-year increase, from US$3.9 billion in 2003 to US$7.7 billion in 2006 and is estimated to reach US$9.7 billion in 2007. Singapore ranks second among the countries and territories investing in Vietnam. By the end of 2007, the country had more than 500 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of nearly US$9.7 billion, focusing on oil and gas exploration, industrial production, agro-forestry-aquatic processing, infrastructure development, services and real estate business.

In 2004, Vietnam and Singapore signed a joint declaration on the framework of comprehensive cooperation in the 21^st century and agreed to implement the initiative linking their economies in six priority areas: finance, investment, trade-service, transport, post and telecommunication, information and technology and education and training.

This is a comprehensive cooperative programme aimed at linking the two economies in the areas of production, trade, investment and consumption and building a favourable environment and orientations for the two countries’ entrepreneurs to cooperate and make the best use of bilateral relations as well as their relations with a third country.

Bilateral educational and cultural cooperation has been constantly developed and expanded. Singapore has actively assisted Vietnam in the fields of science and technology, human resource development, tourism, finance and banking while sharing its experience with Vietnam on issues related to market economy and regional and international integration.

Since 2000, Singapore has annually provided Vietnam with 150-200 scholarships for short-term and long-term English training for special purposes. In addition, the number of Vietnamese students studying in Singapore on a self-financing basis is on the rise.

President S.R Nathan is accompanied by Singaporean senior officials such as the Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the Minister of State for Industry and Trade, the Singaporean Ambassador in Vietnam, members of parliament, and nearly 20 major entrepreneurs wanting to explore business opportunities in Vietnam.

It is hoped that President S.R Nathan’s visit to Vietnam will help Vietnam-Singapore relations flourish in the future.