ADDRESS BY MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY MR LIM HNG KIANG AT THE GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY OF THE 7TH VIETNAM-SINGAPORE INDUSTRIAL PARK NGHE AN PROVINCE, VINH CITY, VIETNAM 16 SEPTEMBER 2015, 10.00 AM
Your Excellencies Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghe An Province Ho Duc Phoc
Chairman of the Nghe An People’s Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you this morning at the ground-breaking ceremony of the seventh Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Nghe An province. Although PM Dung graciously invited Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to attend this ceremony today, Prime Minister Lee was not able to be here due to our General Elections held a few days ago. On behalf of Prime Minister Lee and the Singapore delegation present here today, I thank Your Excellency and the Nghe An authorities for your warm welcome and your gracious hospitality.
The ground-breaking ceremony today not only commemorates the launch of a new VSIP, but serves as a testament to the enduring success of this signature initiative between Singapore and Vietnam. The VSIPs have come a long way since the first VSIP was established in 1996 in Binh Duong province by Sembcorp and its joint venture partner Becamex IDC Corporation. Since then, strong investment flows and interest from companies from a diverse range of industries have seen the VSIPs flourish and expand, while helping to improve the lives of the local community.
Today, there are seven VSIP projects acrossthe southern, central, and northern provinces ofVietnam. More importantly, the VSIPs have concretely contributed to Vietnam’s development, creating more than 150,000 jobs in Vietnam and generating an estimated total investment capital of US$7.9 billion from 23 countries. Equally important has been the evolution of the VSIPs to keep pace with Vietnam’s aspirations to transformyour economy to move up the value-chain. From traditional industrial parks, the VSIPs today have become integrated townships attracting higher value-added industries such as pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and precision engineering.This demonstrates the positive outcomes when wemarry Vietnam’s strengths in human resources and industrial land with Singapore’s expertise in industrial park management and urban solutions.
As the hometown of the founding father of Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh, Nghe An is of great significance. The seventh VSIP in Nghe An will help boost the pace of development in this province and catalyse further investments and growth. It will comprise modern factories which will set a new standard in this province for the quality of its infrastructure and environment. The site we see today will soon become a bustling industrial park.
The Vietnamese authorities in both theProvincial and Central governments have been critical to the success of the VSIPs. I thank Prime Minister Dung for his strong support for the VSIPprojects as they expanded across Vietnam over the years. We look forward to the Vietnam government’s continued support for the success of VSIP Nghe An.
The VSIPs are also a concrete symbol of theclose and longstanding bilateral ties between Singapore and Vietnam. This is underpinned by the elevation of our bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership in 2013 and our regular exchanges of high-level visits. We recently had the pleasure of welcoming Prime Minister Dung to Singapore last month to attend our National Day Parade. We were happy that Your Excellency could join us in celebrating Singapore’s Golden Jubilee marking our 50 years of independence.
On the economic front, the outlook for deepening ties is promising. Bilateral trade hasdoubled over the past decade and continues to grow steadily. Singapore is currently Vietnam’s third-largest investor and the top investor among the ASEAN countries, with more than US$32 billion in total investments. The Connectivity Framework Agreement, a key platform for oureconomic engagement, continues to support several investment projects into Vietnam.
Looking ahead, there continues to be great potential for Singapore and Vietnam to further enhance economic cooperation. Singapore companies’ strong interest in Vietnam reflects well on Vietnam’s stability and growth prospects. The Vietnamese government’s support for businesses,including through the implementation of business-friendly policies and infrastructure improvements, will continue to play an important role in supporting Vietnam’s economic development going forward.
On that note, I would like to congratulateSembcorp, Becamex IDC Corporation, and the VSIP Joint Venture Company on the successful launch of their seventh VSIP in Nghe An province. Singapore looks forward to continued progress on these VSIPs. This will further strengthen our bonds of friendship, deepen collaboration, andbring about growth and opportunities for both our countries and our people. Thank you very much.