Opening Remarks by 2M Tan See Leng at the Vietnam-Singapore Business Forum on the sidelines of H.E. Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit

Your Excellency Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Your Excellency Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment

Your Excellency Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade

Mr Lim Ming Yan, Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. Good morning.

2. It is my pleasure to be here today at the Vietnam-Singapore Business Forum organised during the occasion of His Excellency, Prime Minister Chinh’s visit to Singapore.

Strong Singapore-Vietnam Relations

3. This year we mark two special milestones in our bilateral relationship with Vietnam. First, we are celebrating fifty years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Vietnam. Second, it is also the tenth year since the establishment of Strategic Partnership between both countries.

4. Our economic relations with Vietnam are strong, substantive and underscored by multi-faceted cooperation in diversified sectors. This is evidenced by trade and investment figures that have grown steadily over the past decade, riding on the stellar growth of Vietnam, and vast opportunities presented by a young and vibrant market.

a. Our bilateral trade increased 16.4% year-on-year to reach $31.3 billion in 2022, demonstrating resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

b. On the investment front, Singapore’s FDI into Vietnam in 2022 amounted to nearly US$6.46 billion, making Singapore the largest foreign investor for that year. As of May 2022, we are also Vietnam’s second largest cumulative foreign investor, with a stock investment amount of US$68.68 billion.

c. Apart from the iconic Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) projects, a joint venture between Sembcorp and Becamex, Singapore companies like Keppel, Mapletree, YCH Group, Singapore Airlines, Charles & Keith and Breadtalk have contributed to Vietnam’s infrastructure, transport, logistics, food and retail sectors.

Deepening Collaboration in Emerging Areas

5. Our collaboration with Vietnam is also one that is forward-looking and has broadened in recent years to include areas such as energy, carbon credits and innovation.

a. In this connection, Singapore and Vietnam signed an MOU on a Green and Digital Economic Partnership during this visit, which provides an umbrella framework to bring our cooperation to the next level in energy, sustainability, infrastructure, digital economy and innovation, and connectivity.

b. Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade also signed an implementation MOU to further our cooperation in areas such as agri-trade, digital trade, and development of renewable energy projects.

6. I am happy to see the strong turnout of Singapore and Vietnamese businesses today, which speaks volumes on the potential of further partnerships. I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage businesses from both sides to forge closer ties and mutually beneficial collaboration, particularly in emerging areas of shared interest.

7. Lastly, I wish Your Excellencies and our Vietnamese guests a fruitful and enjoyable visit to Singapore and look forward to seeing new milestones in our bilateral economic relations.

8. Thank you.