Vietnam beefs up multifaceted cooperation with Singapore, Australia

Hanoi – Head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh hosted separate receptions for Singaporean Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng and Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski in Hanoi on July 5.

Receiving Tan, Anh expressed his delight at the strong and extensive development of the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership across various fields, particularly in economy, trade, and investment. He affirmed that Vietnam highly values Singapore's role as one of its foremost economic partners in the region.

The countries’ total bilateral trade exceeded 9 billion USD last year, showing a rise of 10.1% from 2021. Singapore also holds the top position among ASEAN countries and ranks second among all nations and territories investing in Vietnam.

Highlighting ample potential for the bilateral cooperation, Anh proposed that Singapore intensify the promotion of large investment projects in Vietnam, particularly in the fields of science and technology, innovation, green economic development, digital economy, digital transformation, and the building of eco-industrial parks associated with smart cities.

He suggested that Singapore share its experience in formulating investment policies to embrace the trends of production relocation and reshaping the global supply chain.

Agreeing with his host, Tan affirmed that Singapore wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in many areas of mutual interest.

At his meeting with the Australian diplomat, the host lauded the positive development of the countries’ strategic partnership in many spheres, with both countries recently signing a strategy to enhance economic link is to make Vietnam and Australia each other's top trading partner and to double bilateral investments.

The bilateral trade turnover surpassed the target of 10 billion USD and hit 15.7 billion USD in 2022, up 26.9% year-on-year. In the first four months of 2023, the figure reached 4.52 billion USD.

He asserted that the Vietnamese Party and State encourage and commit to creating favourable conditions for Australian businesses to invest long-term in Vietnam in areas where Australia possesses strengths, such as renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure development, supply chain assurance, mining, metallurgy, education, and agriculture.

Anh proposed that Australia further encourage local firms to increase their investments in Vietnam; support and facilitate Vietnamese enterprises' investments and operations in Australia; and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese expatriate community in Australia.

For his part, Goledzinowski affirmed that Australia highly values the bilateral cooperation with Vietnam. He stressed that in the time to come, Australian companies want to explore investment cooperation opportunities across many areas in Vietnam.

Vietnam and Singapore on December 15 discussed specific measures to enhance their bilateral ties, including the enhancement of political and diplomatic links by increasing visits and meetings at all levels and vial all channels and mechanisms of bilateral cooperation.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien had a working session with Singaporean Minister for Manpower, and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng, on the occasion of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s State visit to Singapore from February 24 - 26.

The third Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting was held in Hanoi on April 17 under the co-chair of Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell.

A Vietnam-Australia trade and tourism promotion conference was held by Vietnam Airlines, Thien Minh Group and Vinpearl JSC in Sydney on April 19, drawing a large number of Australian businesses and travel firms from different Australian localities.