Econ
Enhancing Vietnam-Singapore trade relations
On August 28 afternoon, President Tran Dai Quang arrived in Singapore to begin his three-day State visit at the invitation of President Tony Tan Keng Yam. The visit is expected to give an added impetus to the already thriving trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Singapore.
President Tran Dai Quang was welcomed at Changi International Airport
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He said the country aims to record an average GDP growth of 6.5-7 percent in 2020. The President expressed his pleasure at the growing strategic partnership between Vietnam and Singapore. He highlighted the two countries as dynamic economies in Asia-Pacific with two-way trade surpassing 9 billion USD in 2015.
Singapore now ranks third and eighth among ASEAN and global trade partners of Vietnam , respectively. Bilateral trade has risen sharply in recent years, hitting 16.22 billion USD in 2015. Singapore has 1,643 valid investment projects with a total registered capital of over 37.9 billion USD in Vietnam at present, placing it in the third position out of the 116 countries and territories investing in the latter.
Fish processing in Vietnam for exportation
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The Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks (VSIP) in Vietnam’s Binh Duong, Bac Ninh and Quang Ngai provinces and Hai Phong city have operated effectively and considered a symbol of bilateral cooperation.
At the same time, the island state is the third largest among 114 foreign investors in Vietnam with 1,600 valid projects worth nearly 36.3 billion USD. Singaporean investors operate in most economic sectors in Vietnam but the bulk of investment is in infrastructure, services and real estate. Industry insiders said most Singaporean investment projects are operating effectively, with the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) joint venture as a typical example.
At a meeting in May this year with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long in Hanoi, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked Singapore to facilitate the export of more Vietnamese goods to improve the trade balance between the two countries.
Experts said in order to fully exploit the strategic partnership between the two countries to benefit both sides, urgent measures are needed to bring into play the strength of each side. As Singapore has advantages in terms of capital, development research, technology and market, the two sides should create a suitable mechanism to encourage Singaporean firms to support Vietnamese partners in participating further into global production and supply chains.
The two countries should also upgrade their economic mechanisms to further foster business and investment ties between their firms. Singapore is currently the largest ASEAN trade partner of Vietnam with two-way trade turnover almost reaching 2.5 billion USD in the first five months of this year, nearly 1.8 billion USD of which was Vietnam’s imports. Bilateral trade is expanding at an average 12 percent a year.
