Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam – Singapore relations have grown stronglybased on the high level of trust at the political level, win-winpartnerships, and enhanced people-to-people exchange, according toSingaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam.

He made the affirmation during an interview with the Vietnam NewsAgency on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Singapore –Vietnam diplomatic relations, and 10th anniversary of their StrategicPartnership.

Reporter: Vietnam and Singapore are going to celebrate the 50thanniversary of their diplomatic relations, and 10th anniversary ofStrategic Partnership. What are the highlights of the bilateral ties andprospects for the coming years?

Ambassador Jaya Ratnam: 2023 marks several importantmilestones for our relations. It has been 50 years since Singapore andVietnam established diplomatic relations, and 10 years since weestablished our Strategic Partnership. Our bilateral relations havegrown tremendously over these years.

Let me highlight three areas where we have made tremendous strides.

First, our leaders built strong trust with one another. In 1991, thelate Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet asked Mr Lee Kuan Yew to advise Vietnamon opening up its economy. This marked the beginning of a close personalrelationship between successive generations of our leaders. Even today,we continue to reap the benefits of that foundation.

Second, we prioritised economic development. One of the mostimportant projects is the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP). In1994, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong proposed the idea to PrimeMinister Kiet. Vietnam had been experiencing rapid growth since the DoiMoi Reforms in 1986, and the VSIP leveraged the complementarity of ourcountries to drive economic growth.

Third, we worked together to build a prosperous and peacefulSoutheast Asia under ASEAN. ASEAN welcomed Vietnam’s accession in 1995,and Vietnam has made critical and important contributions to ourregional peace and stability. Regionally, Singapore and Vietnam sharesimilar outlooks on many issues and a commitment to the importance ofmultilateralism and international law. We are committed to upholdingASEAN Centrality and unity to preserve the international rules-basedorder. ASEAN is our common pillar of regional partnership and it givesus credibility when we engage external partners as well.

Fast-forward to today, and you can see how our relationship has grownand continues to grow very rapidly. Our leaders meet regularly andenjoy excellent rapport. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made asuccessful Official Visit to Singapore in February this year, and welook forward to reciprocating with a visit by Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong to Vietnam very soon. We exchanged State Visits in 2022, andPresident Halimah Yacob also had a very good introductory meeting withPresident Vo Van Thuong recently in London.

More broadly, we have developed various longstanding, and uniqueinstitutionalised frameworks for cooperation. The Singapore-VietnamConnectivity Framework Agreement (CFA) which was launched in 2006provides a platform where our economic ministries, and their associatedagencies, coordinate positions, give direction and monitor progress onstrengthening our cooperation further. In keeping with our broadeningbilateral agenda, the CFA has expanded to include discussions oninnovation, energy, and digitalisation.

Similarly, we have also close ties with the Communist Party ofVietnam (CPV), with regular interactions at all levels as we seek tolearn from each other’s experiences and identify fresh areas where wecan work with each other for mutual benefit.

Reporter: Despite global downturns, Singapore continued to be theleading source of FDI in Vietnam by pouring 3 billion USD into thecountry during January – June. How would you assess the country’sbusiness climate, what would you suggest the Vietnamese Government do toelevate the country’s competitive edge?

Ambassador Jaya Ratnam: Economic cooperation hasbeen the cornerstone of our bilateral relationship. Vietnam hasconsistently been one of Asia’s top performers. Singaporean businessesare confident in Vietnam’s long-term economic prospects. Hence since2020, Singapore has been one of Vietnam’s top sources of foreigninvestment. This is a vote of confidence in Vietnam’s future. As ofDecember 2022, Singapore was Vietnam’s second-largest foreign investorwith a cumulative investment of 70.8 billion USD. Top Singaporeinvestment sectors in Vietnam are transportation & storage,manufacturing, real estate activities, accommodation, food services,financial & insurance services and wholesale & retail trade. In2022, our bilateral trade grew by just over 16% year-on-year to reach31.3 billion SGD (23.5 billion USD). Overall, I am confident that our economic ties willgrow from strength to strength, especially as we identify new prioritiesfor growth under our Green and Digital Economic Partnership.

Reporter: How do you evaluate the potentials for both nations to boost trade ties to the next level?

Ambassador Jaya Ratnam: Looking ahead, there aremany opportunities to work together in new growth areas. These includethe digital economy, renewable energy, carbon credits, cybersecurity,and sustainable infrastructure.

Hence, when Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Singapore inFebruary 2023, both countries agreed to embark on the Green-DigitalEconomic Partnership (GDEP). This Partnership is an umbrella framework,which upgrades our bilateral relationship by focusing on energy,sustainability, infrastructure, digital economy and innovation, as wellas connectivity. This will not only support the green and digitalaspirations of both our countries, but also allow our cooperation toserve as a pathfinder in ASEAN as well.

In this regard, there are three areas where Singapore and Vietnam arelooking to work hand-in-hand to seize the opportunities of the nextdecade and deepen our cooperation.

First, innovation. Singapore and Vietnam are among the top threestart-up eco-systems in Southeast Asia. With our common goal of drivingeconomic growth through technology and innovation, there is scope forSingapore and Vietnam to tap on each other’s innovation eco-systems forpartnerships, funding and talent.

Second, energy connectivity. Singapore and Vietnam share a commonvision of achieving net zero by 2050. The scaling up of renewableenergy and development of regional power grids will not only support ourindividual decarbonisation efforts, but also promote greaterinfrastructural connectivity to help advance the region’s sustainableenergy goals.

Third, sustainability. We urgently need to accelerate climate actionto meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Carbon markets can play acritical role in supporting countries’ decarbonisation, particularly inhard-to-abate sectors. In October 2022, Singapore and Vietnam signed anMOU to collaborate on carbon credits, aligned with Article 6 of theParis Agreement. This puts both Singapore and Vietnam in excellentpositions to capture the opportunities generated by carbon markets. Welook forward to jointly implementing carbon credit generating projectsin the coming years ahead. Our projects can help spur a more vibrantcarbon market in the region.

Reporter: While economic cooperation is a pillar in the Vietnam –Singapore relationship, cultural collaboration between the two sides hasnot been tapped to the fullest extent. What are your recommendationsfor both nations to promote cultural exchange?

Ambassador Jaya Ratnam: Our partnership goes wellbeyond the dollars and cents of trade and investment. The mostimportant pillar is our people-to-people relationship.

Post-COVID, Singaporeans and Vietnamese have resumed tourism,education, and cultural interactions. Vietnam has always been, andcontinues to be, a popular destination among our students for exchangeprogrammes and study visits. Similarly, Singapore has always welcomedVietnamese students into our country and educational institutions, wherethey have contributed much energy, passion, and talent.

Vietnam is also our top partner for the Singapore CooperationProgramme (SCP). More than 21,000 Vietnamese officials have attendedSCP courses, and Singapore will continue to share our experiences withVietnamese officials, provinces, and municipalities to support Vietnam’sdevelopment.

One area where we are pressing ahead is to increase opportunities forour youth to engage each other. Our latest initiative will be theinaugural Singapore-Vietnam Youth Leaders Exchange Programme (SVYLEP)2023 scheduled to take place in August 2023.

As we look forward, the future for Singapore-Vietnam relations isbright and full of promise. It is for this reason that we have chosento conclude our 50/10 celebrations with an event called SpotlightSingapore in Vietnam (SSV), which will bring more than 200 youths,artists, and young entrepreneurs from Singapore to Hanoi and Ho Chi MinhCity to participate in a series of cultural, sports and business eventsfrom October 19 to 25 this year. It is through such networks offriendship that we will continue to sustain and grow our relations inthe coming decades./.