Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan delivers the remark at the celebration ceremony of Singapore’s 57th National Day on August 15. (Photo: VNA)Hoan delivered the remark at a ceremony to celebrate Singapore’s57th National Day hosted by the Singaporean Consulate General in HCMCity.
Congratulating Singapore on its National Day, Hoan said he wasimpressed by its robust development over nearly six decades. Singapore is now oneof the world’s most developed countries and a role model with a pioneeringapproach – “dare to dream, look ahead and seek new solutions and opportunities.”
Built on the foundation of the flourishing relations betweenthe two countries, HCM City-Singapore ties have produced good results, hesaid, noting that because of geographical proximity and cultural similarities, HCMCity and Singapore boast great potential to supplement each other in variousfields.
According to the official, Singapore has been HCM City’s largest investor andsecond biggest trade partner for years. Since 1988, Singapore has operatednearly 1,490 projects, worth about 11.9 billion USD, in the Vietnamese southerneconomic hub. Last year, the bilateral trade reached close to 8 billion USDdespite impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two sides have maintained close cooperation in multipleareas, including education, public personnel training, urban planning, tourismand cultural exchange, he said.
Singaporean Consul General in HCM City Roy Kho Ngee Seng,for his part, said Vietnam-Singapore relations have always been growing strongly in all fields, from politics and economy to culture, national defence and education.
He added that as Vietnam’s biggest FDI source over the past two years, Singaporepoured more than 4.1 billion USD into Vietnam in the first half of 2022,accounting for 29.5% of Vietnam’s total FDI in the period. The figure is likely to rise further,he said.
The diplomat further noted that HCM City remains a promisingdestination for Singaporean enterprises which are looking to expand business in Vietnam. Singaporehas invested in 70 projects with registered capital of 116 million USD in HCMCity in the first seven months of the year and registered to add 1.14 billion USD to operational projects, making up 80% of the added FDI into the hub.
He said that Singapore has effectively cooperated with HCM City and southern localities in accelerating digital and green economy, expecting that the two sides’ partnership in digital economy and climatechange response will bring more development opportunities for their businesscommunities and people./.
VNA
