During his visit to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore,on September 14, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong stressed theimportance of peace, stability, cooperation and development inSoutheast Asia.
Following is his speech at the school:
“Dean Kishore Mahbubani,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
It is my great pleasure to come today to visit, meet and exchangeviews with distinguished guests, professors, scholars, faculty andstudents of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy - one of the bestknown learning institutions of Singapore and the Southeast Asianregion. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Dean and ProfessorKishore Mahbubani and friends here present for your cordial and warmhospitality.
We deeply admire the School’s process of formationand development. Within a short span of time, the Lee Kuan YewSchool has turned itself from being a Public Policy Program into oneof the world’s top schools in the field of public policy research andtraining.
The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy can be saidto be closely associated with the impressive development of Singapore, a country that has pioneered in developing a knowledge-based economyand vigorously promoting the human factor on the cornerstone principleof treasuring talents. Home to a pool of high-calibre professors andteaching staff, and learning space for currently nearly 400 studentsfrom some 50 countries of the world, your School also represents a vividmanifestation of the interchange and interconnection between nationsand states in a globalizing world and an effective model for the spiritof cooperation and devotion.
We heartily congratulate you onthe proud achievements of Singapore, and wish the Singaporean peoplecontinued national development for ever greater prosperity and everhigher standing in the region and the world. We wish the Lee Kuan YewSchool of Public Policy new and greater successes in grooming talentsfor Singapore and other countries in the region.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
We are witnessing gigantic and profound changes brought about by thescientific and technological revolution alongside the process ofglobalization and international integration. Peace, nationalindependence, democracy, cooperation and development constitute themajor trend of the times; however, local wars, armed conflicts, ethnicand religious strifes, acts of intervention, subversion and terrorism,disputes over territories and natural resources, and othernon-traditional security issues, all continue to occur in a complicatedmanner.
Singapore and Vietnam are fortunate to be located inAsia-Pacific and Southeast Asia – a region globally recognized as themost dynamic and potential, and a powerhouse of the world’s economicgrowth, which draws the attention of big powers and economic-politicalcenters of the world, but which is also latent with destabilizingfactors, theatening the common peace, security and development.
This produces opportunities for development while poses acutechallenges for all countries; requiring each and every nation in theregion to uphold the sense of responsibility, tighten intra-group unityand enhance cooperation with extra-regional countries and organizationswith a view to promoting peace and prosperity. We work together forSoutheast Asia to increasingly become a highly inviting land foroutside investors and trade partners, and an attractive destination forvisitors from across the globe.
The history of our Vietnamesenation in the past struggle for national independence, freedom andreunification as well as in today’s endeavors for national constructionand defense has taught us a major lesson on combining the nationalstrength with the strength of the times, domestic strength withinternational strength. Deeply imbued with this lesson, Vietnam hasalways been consistent in its foreign policy of independence, autonomy,peace, cooperation and development, multilateralization anddiversification of relations, proactive and active internationalintegration, preparedness to be a friend, a reliable partner and aresponsible member of the international community. Thanks to thisforeign policy, we have recorded extremely important achievements, thusunceasingly uplifting Vietnam ’s international status and growinglybroadening Vietnam ’s international relations. By this point of time,Vietnam has had diplomatic relations with 180 countries, includingits strategic partnership with many countries, among them China ,Russia , the U.K. , Germany , Japan , India , the Republic ofKorea , and Spain ... The Communist Party of Vietnam has hadrelations with 206 political parties in 114 countries in the world.Vietnam has maintained economic and trade relations with more than 230countries and territories, and investment relations with nearly 100countries and territories, while acting as a member of more than 70international and regional organizations.
The process ofrenewal and openness has yielded great achievements of historicsignificance, changing Vietnam ’s physiognomy in a fundamental way.Nevertheless, we are still facing numerous challenges; inherentweaknesses of the economy have revealed themselves more and more clearlyunder the impact of the global financial and monetary crisis andeconomic downturn. This situation necessitates our alternative ofcontinued and comprehensive promotion of the renewal process in order tostep by step bring the economy out of hardship into fast andsustainable development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
I am paying this official visit to Singapore at a time when we inASEAN recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of the founding of theAssociation and are joining efforts to build a united and strong ASEANCommunity that plays the central role in architectures ensuring regionalpeace, security, cooperation and development. Looking back to ASEAN’spath of development over the last 45 years and toward its path ahead, werecognize not only advantages but also difficulties and challenges,calling for ASEAN member countries to work together in the spirit oftrust, solidarity and cooperation on the basis of firmly maintaining thefundamental principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, holding highASEAN’s centrality in regional architectures, promoting ASEAN’sproactivism in consolidating an environment of peace, stability andcooperation in the region. As an open regional grouping, ASEAN shouldcontinue to expand its mutually beneficial cooperation with othercountries and partners, not in opposition to any other country orgrouping. Motivated by its centrality, ASEAN should press ahead withmeasures so as to ensure the common peace, stability and security of theregion. Against the international backdrop of today, the building of aunited and strong ASEAN Community is ever more important. Moving forwardtoward a Southeast Asia of peace, stability, cooperation andprosperous development is our shared goal.
Recently, we haveseen rising tension in certain aspect of the situation in Southeast Asiawhich results from complicated developments in the South China Sea ,one of both geo-strategic and geo-economic importance to the region andthe world. This is a worrisome reality. As a directly related country,Vietnam is committed to seriously implementing the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and Guidlines for theImplementation of the DOC signed between ASEAN and China, theAgreement on the Basic Principles for the Settlement of Maritime Issuesbetween Vietnam and China, and committed to working actively with ASEANcountries to push ahead negotiations with a view to early signing withChina the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (COC), inkeeping with the spirit of the Statement of ASEAN Foreign Ministerscovering ASEAN’s 6-point Principles on the South China Sea. At the sametime, Vietnam urges other countries to repsect its legitimateinterests as a coastal nation, including sovereign rights andjurisdiction over its continental shelf and exclusive economic zones asstipulated by international law, particularly the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. It is our view that ASEANcountries have shared aspirations, shared interests and sharedresponsiblities in maintaining an environment of peace and stability inthe region.
A member of ASEAN, Vietnam strictly complies witha principle enshrined in the ASEAN Charter which says, “Abstention fromparticipation in any policy or activity, including the use of itsterritory, pursued by any ASEAN Member State or non-ASEANState or any non-State actor, which threatens the sovereignty,territorial integrity or political and economic stability of ASEANMember States”. Vietnam, at the same time, is committed toimplementing this principle in its relations with all non-ASEANcountries, refraining from inducing or participating in any alliancewith one country to oppose another. Vietnam will spare no efforts toexpand its cooperation as well as the cooperation of ASEAN to countriesoutside the region, especially to all ASEAN dialogue countries and bigpowers such as China, Russia, the U.S., Japan, India, etc.
In that spirit, Vietnam has so far participated in allexisting mechanisms of cooperation among ASEAN members and between ASEANand outside partners, considering ASEAN a truly large and dear familyof its own, and considering partner countries indispensable companionsalong its path of development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
As this is my first official visit to Singapore – a beautiful islandnation which is very close to Vietnam, having witnessed with my own eyesyour country’s development, I am profoundly impressed by Singapore’sdynamism and prosperity, by the harmony between humans and nature, andby the unity in diversity of your country. Singapore ’s development isan invaluable experience for Vietnam as we have stepped up therenewal process and put in place national industrialization andmodernization.
Humanity is entering the age of knowledge-basedeconomy. This constitutes a qualitative step forward of the humansociety. And to avoid lagging behind, all countries should be keen onmaking substantial investments in human resource development. Vietnamis no exception. We have defined human resource development as one ofthe breakthroughs in Vietnam ’s socio-economic development strategy.In this connection, we are highly appreciative of and greatly interestedin learning from Singapore ’s success in implementing policiesprioritizing investments for education and training, bearing in mindthat the human resources are the dominating resources for nationaldevelopment. We are sincerely grateful to the Government and people ofSingapore for sharing your experiences and reserving for Vietnampractical and effective assistance.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends,
During our insightful, comprehensive and efficient talks this pastSeptember 12th, H.E. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and I were verydelighted to see the Vietnam-Singapore relationship developing well,openning up good opportunities for ever better cooperation between ourtwo countries as well as the intra-ASEAN cooperation. Nearly 10 yearsago, the “Joint Statement on the Comprehensive Cooperation Framework inthe 21st Century” and the Connectivity Framework Agreement were signedbetween our two coutries, creating a legal framework and favourableconditions for further promoting the relations of friendship andmultisided cooperation between our two countries. It is by no means acoincidence that Singapore is among Vietnam’s leading investment andtrade partners, with two-way trade reaching almost USD 9 billion,cooperation in other fields enjoying vibrant growth, and the numbers ofVietnamese travelling to Singapore and Singaporeans to Vietnam being on aconstant rise. All this has resulted from our bilateral trustworthy andin-depth cooperation. We treasure our ties with Singapore, work hardto promote our cooperation with Singapore, and believe that theintensive, extensive, sincere and trusted cooperation between Vietnamand Singapore serves as an important factor in the development of eachof our countries, and at the same time a significant contributor topeace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia.
Next year 2013 will be an important milestone in the friendly andcooperative relations between Vietnam and Singapore, when togetherwe will celebrate the 40th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. Tobuild on the solid and in-depth cooperation of the last 40 years, and totap cooperation potentials which remain immense, I and H.E. PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong as well as other leaders of Singapore agreed todo our utmost to further develop the Vietnam-Singapore relationship andelevate it to strategic partnership. This is the shared determinationand a key outcome of the high-level Vietnam-Singapore talks this time.
Once again, thank you for coming to the meeting today. We dohave high expectations for the future development of the Lee Kuan YewSchool of Public Policy, and look forward to the School’s continuedcooperation and help in training high-quality human resources forVietnam.
I wish Dean and Professor Kishore Mahbubani, and all of you here present the best of health, happiness and success.
Thank you”.-VNA