PM Lawrence Wong at the Joint Press Conference with Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam (Mar 2025)

Your Excellency General Secretary To Lam
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me once again extend a very warm welcome to General Secretary To Lam and his delegation.

This is the first visit by a Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary since 2012. Then-General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit paved the way for Singapore and Vietnam to establish our Strategic Partnership a year later.

The Strategic Partnership laid the foundation for close cooperation in trade and investment, finance, security and defence, as well as education and training.

And this collaboration has brought substantial benefit to our people, and our relations have grown from strength to strength over the past 12 years.

So I am very happy that General Secretary Lam and I have agreed to upgrade our bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, or a CSP.

This CSP is significant for Singapore because it is our first with an ASEAN Member State.

It reflects the high level of trust between Singapore and Vietnam, the good work that we have done together, and the potential to do even more.

The CSP will build on the earlier Strategic Partnership, while expanding our cooperation into new and emerging areas – including the digital economy, the green and renewable economy, and carbon credits amongst others.

The CSP will spur innovation-driven and green growth in our two countries. It will put in place the building blocks for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement and the ASEAN Power Grid, both of which will strengthen the resilience of our region.

General Secretary Lam and I just witnessed the exchange of several MOUs and agreements, and we welcomed progress on a range of initiatives during our meeting just now. They exemplify the forward-looking nature of our CSP. Let me cite some areas.

First, in digital transformation, our Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security have concluded an MOU to facilitate the sharing of experiences on government data policies, to promote cross-border data flows, and encourage participation in each other’s digital government events.

Second, in combatting transnational crime, our Ministry of Home Affairs and the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security have enhanced an agreement to address new and emerging threats including drug trafficking, cybercrime and online scams.

Third, we welcomed the endorsement of the joint report on offshore wind power trade cooperation between our two countries. This signals the governments’ shared commitment to facilitate regulatory approvals for bilateral offshore wind power trade and will add momentum to the project between Sembcorp and PetroVietnam on low-carbon wind-generated power, helping us to achieve a more sustainable future.

Fourth, we just welcomed the continued expansion of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks or VSIPs. They have created good jobs and opportunities for both our countries.

That is why we were very pleased just now to see the in-principle approvals for two more VSIPS. And that means together now we have 20 VSIPs across 14 provinces in Vietnam.

A*STAR will also support the development of next-generation smart and sustainable VSIPs, to support Vietnam’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

Fifth, our agencies have committed to deepening financial cooperation. The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the State Bank of Vietnam have upgraded an MOU to promote payment connectivity between our two countries and to support FinTech operations in both markets. MAS and the Vietnam State Securities Commission also intend to share information on regulatory frameworks for capital markets and digital assets.

These wide range of initiatives demonstrate the potential of what our two countries can do together. There is a lot that we can achieve for mutual benefit.

And in the uncertain global environment that we see today, it is even more critical for like-minded states like Singapore and Vietnam to work closely together, both bilaterally and also to strengthen ASEAN. This is exactly what we intend to do through the CSP.

And I am glad to find in General Secretary Lam a partner who is committed to ensuring that Singapore-Vietnam ties continue to flourish for many many more years to come. I thank him for the excellent discussions we had today, and I look forward to visiting Vietnam before the end of the month to further progress on our cooperation. Thank you.

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