Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. My last visit to Hanoi was in year 2003. Since my arrival yesterday, I have been struck by the changes and developments in Hanoi within this short span of 4 years. I could feel the vibrancy of the city and the optimism of the people.
2. Vietnam is currently the fastest growing economy in ASEAN. If Vietnam sustains the pace of economic liberalization, I believe that in the next decade, it could grow faster than the annual average of 7% over the past ten years, perhaps even achieving double-digit growth for some years. As a member of the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam is now also a part of the global economy. It is in a strong position to attract foreign investors to locate their businesses and factories here.
3. However, economic growth also brings new challenges. Globalisation means international competition for the farmers, subjecting them to volatile global prices. Traditional jobs are being displaced and people are migrating from the countryside to the cities, leading to overcrowding and stresses on public amenities. Urban infrastructure such as housing, schools, hospitals, power, water and waste treatment plants have to be built to keep pace with demand. The government has to keep a watchful eye on inflation, balance the demands and needs of the rural and urban populations, and the aspirations of the northern and southern regions. These are daunting tasks which Vietnam has to tackle.
4. Singapore too has gone through a similar phase of rapid industrialisation and economic growth. We have had to find new and urgent solutions to our problems: housing our people, keeping our country clean and green, educating our young, and training and retraining the older workers to acquire new skills. Where Vietnam finds our development experience useful, we are happy to share them so that Vietnam does not have to reinvent the wheel. Building industrial and business parks in Vietnam is one such example. Training Vietnamese under our technical assistance programme, the Singapore Cooperation Programme, is another example. Since 1992, about 10,000 Vietnamese officials have been trained under this programme. Looking into the future, we are deepening and widening our bilateral cooperation through the Connectivity Framework. As part of this cooperation, Singapore will be sharing our public sector experience in urban development through a series of customised training programmes for Vietnamese public sector officials.
5. In the economic field, Singapore and Vietnam jointly built our first industrial park more than 10 years ago. The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) has become a brand-name and a symbol of our cooperation. Last year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong commemorated the 10th anniversary of VSIP and witnessed the launch of VSIP II. Both parks are located in southern Vietnam. Today, I am happy to join you in the ground-breaking of the third VSIP, this time in northern Vietnam.
6. VSIP-Bac Ninh is different from the earlier two VSIPs. It is not only a Singapore-style industrial park but also a township that caters to Vietnam's growing needs for affordable quality housing and improved urban infrastructure. I am confident that VSIP-Bac Ninh will make a significant contribution to Vietnam's urbanisation and growth.
7. When I last visited in 2003, then Prime Minister Phan Van Khai expressed appreciation to me for Singapore being Vietnam's No.1 investor. I told him then that while we were happy with that honour, we were a small economy. For Vietnam's sake, I hoped that Singapore would be overtaken by other bigger economies as Vietnam's top investor within five years. I am glad that since then, Vietnam has attracted investments from bigger economies like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. This bodes well for the future of Vietnam.
8. Even if Singapore is not the number one investor in terms of capital value, I assure you that we will always be interested in playing a part in Vietnam's development. Being an early partner of Vietnam's growth, we want Vietnam to do well and see its people prosper. We hope our partnership will continue long into the future.
Thank you.