Vietnam president, Singapore PM agree on boosting ties post pandemic

By Hong Hanh February 26, 2022 | 12:24 am PT

Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shake hands at their meeting in Singapore, February 25, 2022. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have agreed to promote defense and security cooperation at a meeting in Singapore.

The two leaders said Friday Vietnam and Singapore should soon restore high-level visits and contact and effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms now the pandemic is basically under control, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Phuc is having a state visit to Singapore from Feb. 24-26.

He and PM Lee are on the same page about expanding cooperation in the fields of innovation, digital transformation, digital economy, green and sustainable development, thereby encouraging "a new level of connecting the two economies on a digital platform."

They welcomed the fact that the two countries have reached an agreement on mutual recognition of vaccine certificates to facilitate travel and trade, which would make positive contributions to the efforts of socio-economic recovery after the pandemic.

They also witnessed the exchange of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of defense, economy and trade, intellectual property, digital economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, at Istana Presidential Palace in Singapore.

Vietnam and Singapore will mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership in 2023.

Singapore is the largest investor in Vietnam in Southeast Asia and ranks second out of 140 countries and territories that have investments in Vietnam with a total registered capital of $66 billion. Bilateral trade turnover reached $8.3 billion last year, up 23.3 percent compared to 2020.

Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in southern Binh Duong Province has a total registered investment capital of about $19 billion, generating export value of about $35 billion per year, and creating jobs for nearly 300,000 workers in Vietnam.

Singapore is one of the first Southeast Asian countries to support Vietnam to fight Covid-19, with medical equipment and supplies that cost more than $5 million.