Lee (white shirt) visited the lake a few hours after arriving on an official trip at the invitation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. On his left (hand in pocket) is Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, and on his right is Singapore Ambassador Jaya Ratnam.
Before the tour he had dinner at a restaurant on Yen The Street.
Inside Ngoc Son Temple he took a look at the preserved remains of an extremely rare giant turtle that used to live in the lake.
The Singapore PM waves at locals while leaving the temple.
He arrived in Hanoi for a three-day visit to mark the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership.
And continued to wave at people along the streets.
Singapore is Vietnam’s leading economic partner in the region. They are always in the list of each other's 15 largest trading partners, with Vietnam now being Singapore's 12th largest partner and Singapore being Vietnam's 15th largest.
The Singaporean delegation ended the tour on Tran Nguyen Han Street from where PM Lee returned to his hotel.
On Monday and Tuesday he will meet with top Vietnamese officials and witness the signing of several agreements between the two nations.
Vietnam and Singapore established a partnership in digital economy–green economy on Feb. 9 during PM Chinh's official visit to Singapore.
Singapore ranks first in Southeast Asia and second globally in terms of investments in Vietnam, with a total capital of US$73.4 billion in 3,273 projects.
Bilateral trade was worth $9.15 billion in 2022.
Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks have become a symbol of the economic cooperation between the two countries, with 14 of them situated in 10 localities and attracting investments of $18.7 billion in 866 projects, creating 300,000 jobs.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Hanoi's Sword Lake on Aug. 27, 2023. Video by VnExpress/Loc Chung
