PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Ground-Breaking Ceremony of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park

Your Excellency Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
Party Secretaries of Hai Phong, Bac Ninh and Binh Duong Provinces,
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very happy to be here today to participate in the official launch of the Hai Phong Integrated Township and Industrial Park, which is our fourth Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP).

Vietnam enjoys one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world. It has achieved an average of 7% growth a year over the past decade, mainly the result of its 1986 Doi Moi programme. With its young and industrious population of over 85 million, Vietnam is poised to be a driver for growth and economic integration in the region.

Singapore is happy to partner Vietnam to further its development. Singapore is one of the top five investors in Vietnam, and ranks consistently as one of Vietnam’s biggest trading partners.

The VSIP is a concrete symbol of our excellent bilateral cooperation. Joint development of the first VSIP project began in 1996 in Binh Duong in the south, and has been a huge success. A second industrial park was added in Binh Duong, and subsequently a third township was built in Bac Ninh in the north. The VSIP projects combined the strengths of Vietnam as an investment location with the experience of Singapore companies. Together, they have attracted investments to Vietnam worth over US$2.5 billion, and now house 380 companies from more than 20 countries which employ over 60,000 workers. In this way, the VSIPs have played a small part in Vietnam’s growth and transformation.

The success of the VSIPs is due in large part to the strong support they received from the Vietnamese Central and Provincial Governments. In particular, I would like to thank Prime Minister Dung for his personal commitment to the joint effort. Over the years, the Prime Minister and I have met often for the VSIP. In Sep 2006, we attended the 10th anniversary celebrations of the first VSIP in Binh Duong Province. The next year, during Prime Minister Dung’s visit to Singapore, we witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Hai Phong project. Today, we have come together to mark another VSIP milestone – the ground-breaking ceremony of VSIP Hai Phong.

This fourth VSIP will be an integrated township. It will not only house an industrial park, but will have pleasant residential and community areas to meet Vietnam’s growing need for quality housing and improved urban infrastructure. The project will also encompass eco-friendly design and elements. The success of VSIP Hai Phong depends ever more critically on the support of the Vietnamese Government, to provide good infrastructure, clear rules and favourable incentives to encourage investments. I am confident that the project will receive strong backing and grow into an exceptional development showcase in Vietnam, and I am grateful for what the Prime Minister said just now, that Vietnam would welcome and encourage investments from all countries to come into Vietnam and do well and prosper.

Ladies and gentlemen

Many Vietnamese and Singaporeans will be working side-by-side to realise this VSIP project. Let us use this opportunity to strengthen our mutual bonds and deepen the friendship between our countries. Singapore looks forward to even closer collaboration with Vietnam in the years ahead, as we work together to bring progress and prosperity to both our peoples.

I wish the Hai Phong Integrated Township and Industrial Park every success. Thank you.