The article on The Straits Times highlights the coming visit to Singapore by PM Pham Minh Chinh. (Source: straitstimes.com) The writing, titled “Vietnamese PM to visit S’pore as bothcountries eye green and digital economy deals”, cited Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as saying that thevisit takes place as both countries celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relationsin 2023. It also marks the 10th anniversary of a strategic partnershipagreement signed in 2013, which had upgraded ties and opened new areas ofcooperation.
This is Chinh’s first officialvisit to Singapore since he took office in 2021.
Both PMs will witness the signingof bilateral agreements that will further strengthen the multifacetedcooperation between Singapore and Vietnam, particularly in the digital andgreen economies, said the MFA.
The trip comes on the back ofhigh-level meetings between the two sides in 2022, such as the visits toVietnam by President Halimah Yacob in October and Deputy PM Heng Swee Keat inSeptember.
The articlenoted Singapore and Vietnam have strong economicties, with bilateral trade growing steadily over the past decade to reach 31.3billion SGD (2.3 billion USD) in 2022. As of May 2022, Singapore was thesecond-largest cumulative investor in Vietnam, with investments totalling 94.5billion SGD.
A major component of economic engagement is theVietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs). There are now 12 such parks whichhave attracted 17 billion USD of investments and created 300,000 jobs.
Technical cooperation through the Singapore CooperationProgramme is another key area of engagement. So far, more than 20,900Vietnamese officials have attended courses under the programme on variousdevelopment topics, The Straits Times reported./.
VNA
