Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam (Photo courtesy of the Singaporean Embassy in Vietnam) Reporter: How do you evaluate the Vietnam-Singapore relations in 2023 when the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10-year strategic partnership, and their cooperation prospects for the following years?
Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam: At this time last year, I expected that 2023 would be a momentous year for Vietnam and Singapore’s relationship. And what a year it has been, exceeding all my expectations. We celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10-year anniversary since the establishment of our Strategic Partnership between the two countries. As we begin 2024, both countries are now actively looking to elevating our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership!
Our bilateral cooperation has expanded rapidly in recent years to encompass more areas, ranging from defence and public security, economic and infrastructure development, to education and people development. We have deepened our relationship in these areas and extended our reach to include the new areas of growth such as the digital and green economies and climate change.
We also moved beyond rhetoric with concrete steps to step up our bilateral coordination and cooperation. First, we refreshed and expanded the mandate of the Vietnam-Singapore Connectivity Framework - a high level Ministerial bilateral coordinating mechanism unique to Vietnam and Singapore launched in 2006 – to include cooperation in the new and emerging areas of energy, sustainability, and innovation in 2024. Second, also in 2024, we will have the first annual meeting of our Prime Ministers, a format will enable high level oversight and direction for our bilateral cooperation.
Deep economic cooperation has made our relationship mutually beneficial and remains the cornerstone of our bilateral relations. There is no better symbol of such cooperation than the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs), which have thus far attracted 18.4 billion USD worth of investment capital and created more than 300,000 jobs. And in 2023 we saw five new VSIPs launched, with now a total of 18 VSIPs across Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam. The continued success of the VSIP is testament to the strong confidence in Vietnam’s economic prospects and the Government’s efforts to create an enabling environment for foreign investors.
Indeed, we are standing at a high point of the relationship, and well placed to take our relationship to the next level. In 2023, Singapore was the largest investor in Vietnam with over 6.8 billion USD invested or almost 19% of the total foreign investment. Cumulatively, over the years, Singapore has invested 74.51 billion USD into Vietnam which makes us Vietnam’s second largest investor. Bilateral trade had already reached 31.3 billion SGD (23.3 billion USD) in 2022. This was a 7.2% growth per annum from 16.8 billion SGD a decade ago in 2013, when we first established our strategic partnership.
However, our relations go well beyond the trade and investment figures, as impressive as they are. Our people-to-people relations remain the most important pillar of our relationship. Many Singaporeans and Vietnamese travel between our two countries to work, study, do business, or for tourism. Singapore was Vietnam’s fifth-largest source of tourism last year. The Vietnamese community in Singapore has grown to 25,000 – a more than tenfold increase over the past two decades. Their ability, resilience, and work ethic have made them valuable contributors to our society. We also have a longstanding partnership in human resource development. Vietnam is the top partner of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), our flagship programme for technical assistance. Over 21,000 Vietnamese officials have attended SCP courses. Singapore will continue to share our experiences with Vietnam’s officials, provinces, and municipalities for mutual growth and development.
Reporter: In February 2023, Vietnam and Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on green and digital economic partnership to deepen bilateral cooperation in the two emerging areas. What is your expectation from the MoU? Could you share Singapore’s experiences in developing these fields and your recommendations for Vietnam in the coming time?
Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam: As Vietnam’s economy moves up the value chain and transitions towards a net-zero future, there is much scope for us to work together especially in the emerging areas of green economy and digital economy. We therefore broke new ground to conclude the Green and Digital Economic Partnership during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to Singapore in February 2023. This agreement provides an institutional framework to coordinate on important projects in carbon credits, renewable energy, and the digital economy. This will facilitate and guide our cooperation in these new growth areas. We also upgraded the Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Framework in August 2023 to include these new areas of bilateral cooperation. We expect that this will not only support the green and digital aspirations of both our countries, but also allow our cooperation to serve as a pathfinder for ASEAN.
As we look forward, there is much more we must do to sustain the strong momentum of our Green and Digital Partnership in 2024 and beyond. We will be focusing closely on further strengthening our Green and Digital Partnership in 2024. In line with this objective, I would like to highlight just three areas where we expect more exciting developments this year.
President Vo Van Thuong (second from right) and delegates visit an exhibition held at a ceremony on December 23, 2023 to celebrate 10 years of Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Quang Ngai province. (Photo: VNA) Second, energy connectivity. Singapore and Vietnam share a common vision of achieving net zero by 2050. The scaling up of renewable energy and development of regional power grids will not only support our individual decarbonisation efforts, but also promote greater infrastructural connectivity to help advance the region’s sustainable energy goals. Our Energy Cooperation MOU has paved the way for both sides to explore closer collaboration in areas such as renewable energy development, especially cross-border electricity trading. In 2023, Vietnam approved an offshore wind site survey permit for a cross-border electricity trading proposal by PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) and Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd. This is the first important step forward for the Vietnam-Singapore Energy Project.
Third, sustainability. We urgently need to accelerate climate action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. In October 2022, Singapore and Vietnam signed an MOU to collaborate on carbon credits, aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. We have substantially concluded the negotiations of an Implementation Agreement in 2023. We are looking forward to its early conclusion as it would provide the framework for us to collaborate in carbon credits projects compliant with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This puts both Singapore and Vietnam in excellent positions to capture the opportunities generated by carbon markets. We look forward to jointly implementing carbon credit generating projects in the coming years, which could in turn spur a more vibrant carbon market in the region.
Reporter: Vietnam will celebrate its traditional Lunar New Year in more than a month. How do you feel about the Tet atmosphere in Vietnam, and please share your plans to bolster the Vietnam – Singapore cooperation in 2024?
Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam: The prospects for our bilateral cooperation is bright and promising in 2024 as we look forward to celebrating the Lunar New Year.
For all of us, a new year brings the hope and promise of new beginnings. Singapore and Vietnam grapple with common challenges, especially around climate change and digital transformation. One thing is certain: there are many things we can learn from each other and lean on each other for.
Amid such a difficult external environment, Singapore and Vietnam must work even more closely together.
For our bilateral relations, we are looking to consolidate progress in areas where we have worked well, especially through VSIPs and aggressively expand into new areas of cooperation such as carbon credits, renewable energy, talent and innovation, and the digital economy under our Green-Digital Economic Partnership. These will serve as a basis for the upgrading of our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
But our close relationship is not just based on shared interests, but also shared values.
What I realise that is common to both Singapore and Vietnam is how much the Lunar New Year is a time to gather as family. Eating together, listening to stories and rekindling bonds with our loved ones. We value strong families as the foundation of a cohesive, harmonious society. Our families anchor our identity and sense of belonging. They inspire us to work hard and be better people.
On that note, may I extend on behalf of all my colleagues here at the Singapore Embassy, we wish all our Vietnamese friends Chúc mừng năm mới 2024! We wish all of you more success, good health and much happiness for 2024.
Reporter: Thank you for your interview!
VNA
