President Nguyen Xuan Phuc holds talks with his Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob as part of his visit from February 24-26.
 

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on late February 26, wrapping up a State visit to Singapore at the invitation of his counterpart Halimah Yacob.

In a recent media interview following the visit, Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung stated that Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s State visit to Singapore has contributed to carrying out the nation’s foreign policy set forth at the 13th National Party Congress which give priority to comprehensive development of relations with neighboring countries and ASEAN, including Singapore.

Singapore is an important strategic partner of Vietnam, especially in economic, trade and investment cooperation, with the island-city state having just risen to become the second largest FDI investor in Vietnam.

The visit is the first direct high-level delegation exchange between the two countries after more than two- year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dung went on to say.

President Phuc is also the first foreign head of state to make a visit to Singapore since the initial outbreak of the pandemic.

According to Dung, the visit contributes to strongly promoting the strategic partnership with Singapore, strengthening the confidence of friends, international partners, and Vietnamese people at home and abroad in terms of guidelines, policies, future development of Vietnam, thereby creating trust and encouraging Singaporean businesses to do long-term business and expand investment in Vietnam.

During the talks and meetings, the two countries’ leaders exchanged views on a host of issues in a comprehensive, profound, substantive manner and in the spirit of trust and mutual understanding.  The outcomes of this visit will add fresh to the Vietnam – Singapore strategic partnership, bringing practical benefits to the people and business communities of the two countries, actively contributing to the building of a strong and united ASEAN Community for the sake of peace, stability and cooperation, mutual development in the region and the wider world.

To Anh Dung said that, with a busy schedule of nearly 30 activities, the Vietnamese State leader had face-to-face discussions with all highest-ranking leaders of Singapore, and met with leaders of leading international and Singaporean groups and business representatives. He also held meetings with the Vietnamese community, and leaders of ministries, sectors and localities which have activities with Singaporean partners in order to exchange specific cooperation contents.

The visit has achieved very comprehensive and sustentative results of strategic significance.

The two sides reached a high consensus on major orientations to further deepen their cooperation in a multitude of fields, and issued a joint press statement on strengthening the strategic partnership and cooperation for post-pandemic recovery.

They signed five bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of defence, economy-trade, intellectual property, digital economic cooperation and people-to-people exchange. They also agreed on measures to strengthen the relationship by intensifying delegation exchanges at all levels, effectively implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms and promoting key areas of cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam-Singapore Economic Connectivity Agreement which focuses on innovation, digital transformation, digital economy, green and sustainable development towards connecting the two economies on a digital platform.

The visit makes an important contribution to attracting resources for economic recovery and at the same time sending to Singaporean and international businesses and investors a message of Vietnam’s determination and strong commitment to promote production and business in the “new normal”, continue to boost reform, and create favorable conditions for investors to do business in Vietnam.

Within the framework of the visit, the two sides signed and exchanged 29 memorandums of understanding and cooperation documents worth more than US$11 billion between Vietnamese localities and businesses with Singapore and foreign partners in various field such as trade, innovation, smart industrial park development, airport infrastructure, logistics, renewable energy, school construction, and environmental treatment.

Speaking at the Vietnam – Singapore Business Dialogue with the participation of leaders of nearly 100 major groups and enterprises of the two countries,  President Phuc applauded their practical and effective contributions while encouraging their investment expansion in areas where Vietnam needs, thereby actively contributing to the nation’s sustainable socio-economic development.

Singaporean businesses all expressed their confidence in the increasingly improved business and investment environment in Vietnam, affirming that they will continue to do long-term business and expand investment in the nation.

The visit affirms Vietnam and Singapore are reliable strategic partners in many regional and international issues of mutual concern by agreeing to closely coordinate at international and regional forums, especially at the United Nations and ASEAN, while emphasizing the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s solidarity unity, and central role.

Both sides shared views on maintaining peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters. Both underlined the importance of the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and of negotiations to finalise a substantive and effective Code of Conduct (COC) in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The visit’s success is believed to help consolidate the political trust and strategic partnership between the two countries and take bilateral ties to new heights.

Source: VOV