President’s State visit to Singapore of great significance: Ambassador

Hanoi (VNA) - President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s State visit to Singapore from February 24-26 is of great significance, as it is the first by a head of state to Singapore since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and also the first high-level delegation exchange between the two countries since April 2018 when Phuc visited Singapore as the Prime Minister of Vietnam.

The statement was made by Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung when granting an interview to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Singapore.

According to him, the visit will help elevate the bilateral relations to a new height, reflected in a series of cooperation documents and big contacts expected to be signed this time in the fields of defence, economy, information and communications, people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries, strategic partnership, established in 2013, is at its best and is developing positively in all fields. In the political sphere, the two countries have regularly carryied out consultations at ministerial and lower levels. Vietnam and Singapore share a common assessment of the world situation, and have the same views on world and regional issues. In terms of economy, Singapore was Vietnam’s largest investor in 2020 and 2021 and trade relations have continued to thrive despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Dung said.

Defence and security ties and people-to-people exchanges have also developed well.

In the fight against COVID-19, the two countries have helped each other. In early 2020, Vietnam provided Singapore with face masks and medical equipment. In 2021, when Vietnam was in trouble, Singapore donated a lot of medical equipment to the country through the Temasek Foundation and other organisations with a total value of more than 5 million SGD (3.72 million USD), the diplomat said, adding that Vietnam always appreciates this assistance.

He went on to say that this visit by President Phuc aims to concretise agreements that the two countries’ senior leaders have long discussed on economic infrastructure connectivity, with special focus on the fields that Singapore has great strengths and Vietnam has demand such as digital transformation, and green and clean energy.

The two sides plan to sign a lot of cooperation documents in these fields, as Singaporean investors are particularly interested in Vietnam's green, clean, and renewable energy.

“I hope that through the visit, the aspects that we prioritise will grow stronger,” said the ambassador./.