Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in the northern province of Thai Binh (VSIP Thai Binh) on March 26.
The 333ha VSIP Thai Binh, costing nearly 221 million USD, is located in Thuy Truong commune, Thai Thuy district. The first phase, led by the VSIP Urban and Industrial Park Development JSC, involves reclaiming 278 ha for construction.
In his speech, PM Chinh highlighted the significance of PM Wong's visit, which follows the recent elevation of bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. With over 4,000 investment projects worth more than 80 billion USD, Singapore now stands as the second largest foreign investor in Vietnam. The 20 VSIPs scattered across the country epitomise the effective, sustainable, and long-term cooperation between the two Governments and their business communities.
Chinh urged Singapore to continue expanding and promoting the first-generation VSIP industrial parks while investing sustainably in the second-generation VSIPs. He envisioned them as ecosystems of sci-tech, innovation, industry, urban area development, services, and modern technology, driving growth in various Vietnamese localities.
He believed that Vietnam-Singapore economic collaboration would keep growing comprehensively and strongly, delivering breakthroughs and reinforcing the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership as a typical example of dynamic and effective relations within ASEAN and a model to step up intra-regional cooperation mechanisms both in the region and globally.
Wong, for his part, called VSIP as a bedrock of bilateral relations over the past nearly three decades and a reflection of Singapore’s trust in Vietnam and its growth potential.
Recalling his earlier talks with PM Chinh, he said both sides had agreed to develop the VSIP 2.0 network sustainably and smartly, realise the outcomes of Party General Secretary To Lam’s Singapore visit by advancing digital economy, green economy and hi-tech economy, including building greener VSIPs. Accordingly, VSIP 2.0 is not only an industrial park but also a hub of sci-tech, services, smart city development, wastewater treatment, green transportation, environmental protection, cost saving and efficiency.
According to him, integrating VSIP Thai Binh into the existing network of 20 VSIPs nationwide will increase connectivity, draw investment projects to Vietnam, bring benefits to each country and improve economic connectivity in the ASEAN bloc.
The groundbreaking ceremony also saw the exchange of cooperation agreements between ministries, agencies, local authorities, and businesses from both countries. These agreements span various fields, including industrial park development, innovation, digital transformation, industrial growth, tourism, biofuel development in Vietnam, and the establishment of an integrated open innovation platform for agriculture and food value chains in both nations./.
