Doorstop Interview by PM Lee Hsien Loong in Chu Lai, Vietnam (Sep 2013)

Q: Prime Minister, what is your assessment of your visit to Vietnam to commemorate 40 years of Singapore-Vietnam bilateral ties?

PM: I think it has been a fruitful visit. It is a celebration because we have had 40 years of friendship. It is to register the projects which we have ongoing, for example this VSIP, which is expanding. It is also to conclude this Strategic Partnership so we can take our relations another step forward in the next phase. I think I got a very warm reception and a very fruitful discussion with the Prime Minister, with the President, with the top officials, and I have had a chance to come to Quang Ngai Province here, a different part of Vietnam, central Vietnam, understand the situation here and also to see what opportunities there will be.

Q: There are actually five Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) now in Vietnam, which I think speaks a lot of this Vietnam-Singapore relationship, whereas we have neighbouring countries who want similar ventures but have not seen any, so what is the driving force behind this relation?

PM: I think there is a synergy. The VSIP has started off a very long time ago, I think 20 years ago, when it first began, the park at Binh Duong and near Ho Chi Minh City and it took some years for it to get momentum and take off, because the investors were not confident, the overall investment climate in Vietnam was not that favourable at that time and had not been opened up yet. But over the years, Vietnam changed their rules, I think they linked up and had a trade agreement with America that helped a great deal. They have joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), that has helped, and they negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that is a new opportunity and already companies are positioning themselves in Vietnam, in anticipation of trade advantages when the TPP is negotiated and comes into effect. I think there is synergy on both sides – our ability to organise and run the industrial parks, Vietnamese keenness to get their provinces to develop and advance. And we have seen the results and they have seen the results. So every place we go, we get very strong support from the provincial government and we choose a next place to go where all the conditions are propitious, where things look good and it has the maximum chances of success.

Q: Do you have any particular country in mind for the next joint venture?

PM: Well, we have projects in Iskandar Malaysia of course, we have projects in Indonesia and we also have quite a number of projects in India, in a different way, and China too, I was just there two weeks ago, and many of our companies are there, including building industrial parks, tech parks, science parks of different kinds. I think each country’s circumstances are different, and we have to tailor what we do there to their needs and our abilities.

Q: So apart from industrial parks, how else can Singapore companies tap the Vietnam market and what are some of the specific sectors that are underserved that could benefit from Singapore companies’ expertise?

PM: I think the Vietnamese economy is growing steadily, the middle class is expanding, the purchasing power is growing and there are already Singapore companies here doing all sorts of things. Not just the tech park, but other activities as well. I think if we talk about retail, for example, FairPrice is setting up something in Ho Chi Minh City. You talk about a Singapore based company, like Charles and Keith, I think they have a presence in Vietnam. I think if you are talking about hospitality business, we have got companies here which are running serviced apartments, which are running hotels, we have logistics companies which are here too, we also have Singaporeans who are working for other multinationals and present in Vietnam. Yesterday at the band performance I met one Indian gentleman, with family here, and he is working for a German chemical company, BASF. So I think there are many opportunities here. Also of course the Vietnamese are also developing the economy, they need the infrastructure, so we talk about water treatment, waste water treatment, electricity generation, all these are possibilities.

Q: Prime Minister, the VSIPs are being held up as a model for private-public partnership in this country, do you think there is potential for Singapore companies to work on a similar model in other areas and what are these areas, and why do you think it is important that Singapore continues to keep investing in Vietnam?

PM: I think there are other areas where there will be needs. I talked about the infrastructure needs – water, waste management, and environmental management, I think they are more focused on their environmental management now. There is good potential for private investors to come in and work with the government. And I think our people are already looking at these. Why are we still interested in Vietnam? I think because we have confidence in the economy, in the country, it has got a lot of energy and drive and you can sense it in the cities, even in the rural areas, you talk to the officials, you see the people, they are hungry they are bright, the country is on the move. It has significant problems, I think the financial sector is having some banking difficulties, they have significant structural reforms to carry out which are not so easy to do, for example, SOEs are a very big part of the economy and probably need a significant amount of rationalising, but overall these are people who want to move ahead. And therefore, I think they will grow and I think we should be part of that growth and I think we should move with that. And we are well positioned because we have a track record with them, they know us, and at a government to government level, our relations are good. We are good friends. And that sets an overall climate within which our companies can cooperate.

Remarks in Mandarin

Q：总理， 现在请你用华语谈一下总结一下这次的一个行程。

PM：好，你问个问题。

Q：就是总结一下你觉得说这次就是来这次访问越南的整个感觉？

PM：感觉很好，我们建交四十年了。这四十年来，也走了不少崎岖的路。不过近几十年来，我们的关系是蛮好的。那我们的经济合作，我们的文化交流和教育方面的合作都有进展。这一次来一方面是来庆四十周年，另一方面是在这Quang Ngai 省，为一个新的工业区动土 VSIP 动土，那同时也建立了新的战略合作关系。这些都是去往开来的不断的工作。

Q: 总理您之前也刚刚到了中国去然后现在又来到越南。对这两个新新的市场，这两次的旅程里面， 您有什么感想，什么观察？

PM: 两个国家都是蓬勃兴旺的国家。当然中国比较早起步。所以中国发展的比较快并且很多地方已经比较成熟了。越南起步得比较迟，还有很多工作需要做的，还很多改革开放还没有完成的。但在这改革开放的过程中，我们也可以帮助他们克服一些困难，帮助他们克服挑战。所以我看两个国家，各有各的机遇，机会，我们在两个国家的投资合作的政府之间交流，都要适应国情。

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