Vietnam and Singapore agreed to forge cooperation in infrastructure development and tourism, opening new prospect for boosting their economic linkage.

The agreement was reached at the fifth conference on Vietnam-Singapore economic linkage held in the Central Highlands resort city of Da Lat on Mar. 13 under the co-chair of Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc and Singaporean Minister of Industry and Trade Lim Hng Kiang.

With this agreement, the two countries have increased their fields of cooperation to eight, with the other six being on education and training, finance, communication and information, investment, trade and services and transportation, as defined in the Vietnam-Singapore Agreement on Economic Link signed in 2005.

In the coming time, the two countries will prioritise cooperation in finance-banking, stepping up Singaporean businesses’ investment in Vietnam , promoting bilateral tourist linkage, and developing human resources in the post-crisis period.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc affirmed that the agreements reached in this conference will offer new opportunities for the two countries to promote their linkage and development.

He stressed that specific investment and cooperation projects, plans and programmes of each ministry as well as of localities will be outlined and deployed as soon as possible.

Reviewing the implementation of the Vietnam-Singapore Agreement Economic Link over the past five years, the participants unanimously noted outcomes significant to the two countries’ development.

The Agreement has contributed effectively to the two countries’ trade as well as the flow of their investment capital, with the two-way trade value rising nearly five-folds from 10.4 billion Singaporean dollars in 2005 to over 50 billion Singaporean dollars in 2009.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), by February this year Singaporean investors have had 792 valid projects with a total registered capital of 17.3 billion USD, ranking fifth among foreign investors in Vietnam .

The FIA provided that up to 88 percent of Singaporean registered investment, or 15 billion USD, have been pumped into the processing and manufacturing industry, real estate, construction, arts and recreation, services, accommodations and restaurants.

At the conference, the Da Nang Port Co. Ltd and the Singaporean Cruise Centre Pte Ltd (SCCPL) signed a memorandum of understanding on developing the central port of Da Nang into Vietnam ’s largest tourist sea port./.