Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Official Visit to Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 28 August 2023

Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong is on an Official Visit to Vietnam from 27 to 29 August 2023. This morning, PM Lee was received by Vietnam PM Pham Minh Chinh. Following a ceremonial welcome, the two Leaders had a bilateral meeting, and witnessed the signing of a series of MOUs and bilateral agreements.

PM Lee and PM Chinh reaffirmed the longstanding friendship and excellent relations between Singapore and Vietnam. Taking stock of relations on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10^th anniversary of our Strategic Partnership this year, both Leaders lauded the warm and frequent exchanges at the leader-to-leader, government-to-government, and people-to-people levels. They welcomed the substantive cooperation in trade and investment, security and defence, education and human resource development that has been built up over the years. They commended the role of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) in supporting Vietnam’s development since the launch of the first park in 1996, and looked forward to witnessing the ground-breaking and grant ceremonies for several new VSIPs.

The Leaders agreed to step up cooperation in emerging areas such as renewable energy, carbon credits, and the digital economy. In view of the expanding scope of cooperation, PM Lee and PM Chinh agreed to establish annual PM-to-PM meetings as a platform to discuss the bilateral agenda and issues of mutual concern. Given the qualitative expansion of our relationship in recent years, the Leaders also agreed to explore the possibility of upgrading bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the future, and tasked officials to follow-up and report to the PMs at the next annual PM-to-PM meeting. They exchanged views on regional and international developments, including developments in Myanmar and the South China Sea. They welcomed Singapore and Vietnam’s similar strategic outlook in promoting ASEAN Centrality as well as an open and rules-based multilateral order, in accordance with international law.

Following the meeting, PM Lee and PM Chinh witnessed the conclusion of several government-to-government agreements and initiatives (list at ANNEX). Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment exchanged side letters to upgrade the Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Framework Agreement (CFA), with refreshed pillars of cooperation in the annual Connectivity Ministerial Meeting (CMM) of (i) Energy Connectivity; (ii) Sustainability; (iii) Infrastructure; (iv) Digital and Innovation; and (v) Connectivity.

Under green economy cooperation, the Leaders witnessed (a) the exchange of Letter of Intent between Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the Continuation of Implementation of Memorandum of Understanding for Collaboration under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement ; (b) an MOU on Sustainable Infrastructure Development between Singapore’s Infrastructure Asia and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. They welcomed the offshore wind site survey permit approval by Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for a cross-border electricity trading proposal by a consortium comprising Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation. The survey will determine the potential of offshore wind energy in an area of about 200,000 hectares, for potential export from Vietnam to Singapore. A letter of intent was also given to the consortium by Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) to signal Singapore’s support for this project. They agreed that all parties should continue working together towards the award of a conditional approval by EMA for this proposal.

  To support the aspirations of both countries to grow and deepen linkages between our innovation ecosystems, the two Leaders witnessed the signing of an MOU on the Singapore-Vietnam Innovation Talent Exchange (ITX) Programme between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which will allow professionals to seek working stints and gain skills and experience in the area of innovation in each other’s economies.

Building upon a longstanding collaboration on human resource and skills development, PM Lee and PM Chinh witnessed the signing of (a) the MOU between Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower and Vietnam’s Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on Skills Development and to promote knowledge exchanges and share best practices on skills development and labour, as the demands of the global economy evolves; (b) the renewed MOU on Educational Cooperation between Singapore’s Ministry of Education and Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training which will facilitate more educational linkages and professional exchanges; and (c) the renewed MOU on the Study Visit Programme and Executive Education Programme for Senior Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Officials from the period of 2024 to 2026 between Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CPV Commission for External Relations.

  PM Lee separately met CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue in the afternoon. PM Lee had productive discussions with the Vietnamese leaders, reaffirming the close and excellent ties between Singapore and Vietnam, exploring ways to deepen cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels, and discussing regional and international developments of mutual interest. PM Lee welcomed the Vietnamese leaders to visit Singapore to further advance our relations. PM Lee also laid a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum earlier in the morning.

  PM Chinh and his spouse Madam Le Thi Bich Tran will host an Official Dinner in honour of PM Lee and Mrs Lee this evening. PM Lee and PM Chinh will jointly attend several business and public events together tomorrow before PM Lee returns to Singapore.

.     .     .     .     .     .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

28 AUGUST 2023

.     .     .     .     .     .

ANNEX