Prime Minister leaves Hanoi for official visits to Singapore, Brunei

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his spouse and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam left Hanoi at noon on February 8 for official visits to Singapore and Brunei from February 8-11.

The visits are made at the invitations of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

This is the first trip to the two countries by Chinh in his new position, and also the first to Singapore by a head of the Vietnamese Government over the past five years, and to Brunei over the past 15 years.

PM Chinh and his entourage are scheduled to visit Singapore from February 8-10, and Brunei from February 10-11, aiming to strengthen bilateral ties with the two nations, and enhance cooperation in regional and international issues of mutual concern, including coordination in ASEAN and regional and international forums and organisations.

The visits are expected to deepen the strategic partnership with Singapore, an important economic partner of Vietnam, and the comprehensive partnership with Brunei, also a promising economic partner.

This year, Vietnam and Singapore will celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of bilateral comprehensive partnership. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Brunei marked the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties last year.

Singapore is now Vietnam’s top important economic partner in the region, with two-way trade nearing 9 billion USD last year, up 10.1% annually. The island state leads ASEAN and ranks second among the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 3,032 valid projects worth 70.39 billion USD.

At present, 12 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in nine Vietnamese cities and provinces have an occupancy rate of around 83.2%, attracting 17.6 billion USD for some 900 projects and generating roughly 300,000 jobs.

PM Chinh’s visit to Singapore aims to lift Vietnam-Singapore economic connectivity to a greater height in the context that a series of new-generation free trade deals joined by the two nations have taken effect, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Meanwhile, two-way trade between Vietnam and Brunei hit 725.8 million USD in 2022, up 134% year-on-year, surpassing the goal of 500 million USD set for 2025 by their leaders.

In the near future, the two sides hope to boost joint work in promising areas such as agro-forestry-fisheries, Halal food, construction, infrastructure and joint ventures.

As of December 2022, Brunei ranked 26th out of the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 157 valid projects valued at 971 million USD, mostly in industry, manufacturing and processing, construction and real estate. The southern province of Dong Nai was the biggest recipient of its investment capital, followed by Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Long Anh, Thai Binh and Phu Tho./.