Viet Nam, Singapore are indeed natural partners: Ambassador

The Ambassador made the above statement during his recent interview ahead of General Secretary and President To Lam's State visit to Singapore from May 29-31.

Significance of General Secretary and President To Lam's visit

Ambassador Rajpal Sing: Firstly: let me say it is a very great honor and pleasure for Singapore to be able to host the State Visit of General Secretary and President To Lam to Singapore later this week. This is the first set of state visits that General Secretary and President To Lam is making to the ASEAN countries, following the conclusion of the National Assembly elections, as well as the inauguration of the new government. Singapore is especially pleased that this is the second visit to Singapore by the General Secretary in two years. As you know, last year in March, General Secretary To Lam made a very important visit to Singapore, where we upgraded our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). Since then, we have had very high-level exchanges. My Prime Minister, Mr Lawrence Wong, visited Viet Nam, and he has had many engagements (since), both with the General Secretary as well as the Prime Ministers of Viet Nam.

I think this visit and the exchange of high-level visits at this tempo tells me three things. Firstly, the foundation of our relationship is the very good ties (which exist) at the leaders' level. Secondly, it shows the importance that both sides place on the relationship. Thirdly, I think it shows the momentum that is in the relationship since we upgraded it to a CSP last year.

Now, if you look at it, we have crossed the 50-year mark of Singapore-Viet Nam relations. In these 50 years, Viet Nam has changed significantly. Singapore also has changed significantly. In fact, if you look at the global political and economic order, it has changed very much significantly (as well). We are living in a very uncertain geopolitical and geo-economic landscape. So, in this State Visit you will see Singapore and Viet Nam taking the relationship to the next phase, where we work together on common issues for mutual benefit to mitigate the external shocks that we face.

You will see cooperation in new areas like digital, advanced manufacturing, (as well as) higher order education and training.

Going into the next phase and addressing these global challenges together, Singapore and Viet Nam are indeed natural partners.

Most potential areas for bilateral cooperation

Ambassador Rajpal Sing: Our relationship is actually very long standing and broad-based. We have very strong cooperation in a range of areas: economic, social, cultural, people-to-people, and the political field. As I mentioned, the CSP has given us added momentum to grow our relations even further. As you know, our economic relations are very strong, and they are set to grow even further. We are traditionally one of the biggest investors in Viet Nam. Last year, we were indeed the biggest investor in Viet Nam, and we provided more than a quarter of the newly registered foreign capital in Viet Nam.

When you talk about Singapore investments in Viet Nam, I think everyone knows the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Parks, or VSIPs. The VSIPs show how Singapore and Viet Nam can work together on large scale economic projects that bring benefits to both countries. The parks are taking in investments not only from Viet Nam and Singapore, but all over the world. In the early 2000s we only had two VSIPs. Today we have 22 VSIPs, and I am confident that the VSIPs will continue to grow and bring more benefits for both Singaporean companies and our Vietnamese friends. In fact, I always joke with my Vietnamese friends, if you want to visit the entire length of Viet Nam, you can just visit every single VSIP and you would have visited the whole of Viet Nam.

But we also want to take our economic relationship further, we want to upgrade it, and I think there are two key priorities. First, in the digital space, we are working with Viet Nam to harness the potential of the digital economy. I think there are already a number of Singapore businesses who are in the digital space in Viet Nam and looking to grow their investments and businesses here. During the State Visit, there will be a special Tech Connect Forum that will bring digital companies from Singapore and Viet Nam together and ink new agreements and new projects. Second, in the green and sustainability sphere, we signed an Implementation Agreement on Carbon Credits last year, and we are looking to implement projects in this area by the end of this year. We are also working on the possibility of importing electricity from Viet Nam, generated mainly by offshore wind power. This is a long-term and significant project for us.

On the political relations between the two countries, we are discussing a new high-level platform between the leaders and senior officials on both sides, which will discuss a range of issues such as governance, public administration and transformation. When upgrading our relations to a CSP, we also reaffirmed our traditional cooperation in the defence and security arenas. As we know, we face many unconventional threats today, and the need to cooperate in these two sectors is all the more important. The (Singapore) Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam will have their regular exchange at the deputy minister-level just before the State Visit. Last year both the Defence Minister of Singapore and Defence Minister of Viet Nam visited each other's countries and reaffirmed our strong defence cooperation.

Singapore's investment prospect in Viet Nam

Ambassador Rajpal Sing: General Secretary and President To Lam has set out a very ambitious growth target for Viet Nam, including double-digit growth for the next five years. He has also introduced wide-ranging reforms in both policy and administration. I can say that Singapore is very optimistic about Viet Nam's future growth.

As you know, we have been involved in Viet Nam economically, not now, not 10 years ago, but for a long time. Singapore businesses like CapitaLand, Keppel Land, Shopee, Grab, Sembawang Corporation, are all household names in Viet Nam. Our businesses see the ambitious targets and the strong leadership as creating further opportunities for them. We want to go into new sectors, such as digital and green, and we are getting out beyond just the traditional cities of Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. We see many opportunities in other provinces and cities like Da Nang, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh and Dong Nai. All of these present valuable opportunities for Singapore businesses to work with their Vietnamese partners.

We have also traditionally supported Viet Nam in terms of education and training. I think it's interesting to note that Viet Nam is the top recipient of Singapore's official training program, called the Singapore Cooperation Program. We have trained more than 22,000 Vietnamese officials under this program. Now, we want to upgrade the education and training we provide for Vietnamese officials. So, same thing as in the new sectors that we are looking at. For example, last year we had a digital governance program in Hai Phong. This year we had a digital transformation (course) in public healthcare in Ho Chi Minh City. I think Singapore's support, whether through investments or education and training, is a tangible signal of our commitment to work with you in achieving your economic and development targets. We believe that a strong and prosperous Viet Nam will bring great benefits to Singapore, to ASEAN, and the wider global community.

General Secretary and President To Lam's participation in 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue

Ambassador Rajpal Sing: This will be the first time that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam will deliver the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue. I think it is a very significant moment, and it tells me a number of things. First, there is much interest in the region and in the world in hearing the General Secretary and Viet Nam's views on the current geopolitical and geo-economic situation. Second, it is an important recognition of the achievements that Viet Nam has made. Viet Nam has joined ASEAN now, just over 30 years ago. Since then, Viet Nam has been a most active member of ASEAN, driving its political stability, its economic integration and the people-to-people community building. Third, I think it shows that Viet Nam is poised to play a more active role in addressing such geopolitical and geo-economic uncertainties. As you know, the Shangri-La Dialogue is the premier regional forum to bring together all parties to have an open discussion on how we can collectively address the challenges that we face. The keynote address will give some guidance to everyone on how they can have this conversation and dialogue going forward.

Singapore supports Viet Nam playing a more active role in this regard, because we share common principles and perspectives on the issues, such as upholding the sovereignty of nations, adherence to international law, and peaceful settlement of disputes. That is why we look forward to working more closely with Viet Nam in upholding these principles.

Thank you so much!