News: The Straits Times -  13 January 2010


PM Lee: Viet investors welcome in S'pore
S'pore firms also keen to play role in Vietnam's growth
By Zakir Hussain, Political Correspondent


(Picture: PM Lee with Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday. They pledged to nurture a long-term partnership. - LHZB Photo)


HANOI: Singapore and Vietnam have deepened economic links in recent years, with Singapore companies registering a growing presence in one of the region's fastest-growing economies.

Yesterday, visiting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong invited Vietnamese companies to do the same in Singapore.

'Singapore welcomes Vietnamese companies to invest and do business in our country. Singaporean companies, big and small, are also eager to participate in Vietnam's growth,' he said.

'A vibrant economic and commercial relationship will complement our cordial government-to-government cooperation and build a fuller and mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and Vietnam.'

He was speaking at a dinner hosted by his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung, where both leaders took stock of the strong bilateral relationship and pledged to nurture a long-term partnership.

Mr Dung said Singapore had been a leading trade and investment partner in Vietnam. A Connectivity Framework Agreement inked five years ago to spur links 'had been good to both countries'.

There had been strong growth in areas such as education and training, he noted.

Earlier, Mr Dung received Mr Lee in a ceremony at the presidential palace. Flags of both countries lined lamp posts along the route that Mr Lee's motorcade took.

Singapore officials, including Second Finance and Transport Minister Lim Hwee Hua, also met their Vietnam counterparts for an hour at the Grand Hall of the Government Office in Hanoi.

At their meeting, Mr Dung said Mr Lee's visit, coming early in the year, boded well for bilateral relations. He congratulated Mr Lee on Singapore's successful chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping, for promoting economic integration, and on Singapore's strong rebound from the global downturn.

Mr Lee noted that while the weather was cool - it was 15 deg C outside - the welcome was warm and bilateral relations had grown much warmer in the three years since his last visit here.

At the dinner, he noted that a series of high-level visits and exchanges underscored their close political ties. Bilateral trade was S$13 billion last year. Singapore is Vietnam's fifth-largest investor with total investments of US$17 billion (S$24 billion) in 760 projects. Officials have identified new areas of cooperation such as urban development.

Mr Lee said strong government-level links 'provided a conducive environment for our private sectors to pursue business opportunities together'.

He cited the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), a joint project by Vietnam's Becamex Corporation and Singapore's Sembcorp Industries, as an icon of the successful economic partnership.

Mr Lee also noted that people-to-people ties were growing stronger: Vietnam was an attractive tourism destination for Singaporeans, and Singapore has welcomed many tourists and thousands of students from Vietnam.

'Through these exchanges, our peoples, especially our youth, can develop strong ties of friendship with one another. This bodes well for our future friendship,' he said.

To boost ties with alumni from and in Vietnam, Nanyang Technological University launched an association for alumni in Hanoi on Monday, and will launch another in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow.

Mr Lee pledged Singapore's full support to help make Vietnam's chairmanship of Asean this year a success. He also looked forward to Vietnam joining an expanded Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, which now groups Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. It is seen as a viable building block for the eventual establishment of a Pacific-wide free trade area.

'Our two countries share common interests and similar perspectives on many issues. There is therefore much scope for us to build on our ties and work together for the betterment of our peoples and the region,' he said.

Mr Lee also called on Communist Party of Vietnam general secretary Nong Duc Manh. Today, Mr Lee and Mr Dung travel to Hai Phong for the fourth VSIP project's ground-breaking ceremony.

*****

People-to-people ties are growing stronger, PM Lee notes. Vietnam is an attractive tourism destination for Singaporeans, and Singapore has welcomed many tourists and students from Vietnam.

*****