Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in February 2023. Photo: QT

What do you expect from Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to Vietnam this time on important anniversaries of the two countries - 50 years of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership?

This official visit of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife is the fifth time he visited Vietnam as Prime Minister. This shows the closeness and connection between Singapore and Vietnam, between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong personally with our country.

This visit is in response to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Singapore last February. This is also on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Singapore.

During his visit to Vietnam, in addition to official diplomatic activities, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also attended important activities, symbolizing economic cooperation between the two countries. The current deep and comprehensive cooperation is a foundation to ensure a close relationship between the two countries in the future.

On the occasion of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit, the two countries are expected to sign important cooperation documents as a foundation for consolidating and promoting the strategic partnership between the two countries, the common peace and stability in the region and the world.

During his historic visit to Singapore in 1991, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vo Van Kiet expressed his wish for former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to serve as a senior economic adviser to the Government of Vietnam. In response to the offer, Lee Kuan Yew visited Vietnam several times, giving advice on macroeconomic strategy. Since then, Singapore has seen in Vietnam as a reliable partner, a partner that needs to develop bilateral relations.

What do you think about the trust foundation that brought bilateral relations, especially economic cooperation, to reap "sweet fruits" today, such as the replicated VSIP model?

Trust has been a key factor driving the relationship between Vietnam and Singapore over the past five decades. The two countries share similar visions on important issues in their respective economic development and security strategies as well as in regional and international affairs.

Cooperation between the two countries is based on mutual benefits, ensuring each other's national interests, but also imbued with friendship.

The fact that late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet invited former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to serve as a senior economic adviser and Singapore's support during the early renovation period is a living proof of this trust and friendship.

Recently, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam and Singapore supported each other both materially and spiritually. Many Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks are being replicated across the country. They are not only about the economic but also show the political determination of both Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses.

In recent years, Singapore has always been one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. The two countries are continuing to build an equal, friendly and mutually supportive relationship in many fields.

All of these achievements stem from the trust and spirit of friendly cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung. Photo: VNA

The two countries earlier this year established a partnership in the digital economy-green economy. How will this cooperation be implemented in the near future?

During the official visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife to Singapore in February, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a partnership in the digital economy-green economy between Vietnam and Singapore. Currently, the two countries are implementing this agreement.

The two countries are exchanging and negotiating specific cooperation contents to realize the agreement between the two countries, including development cooperation, digital government connection, digital economy, and digital society.

On the Vietnamese side, on August 2, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Decision No. 912/QD-TTg to establish an interdisciplinary working group to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on the partnership in the digital economy-green economy. This decision is expected to create a strong impetus for the implementation of the agreement from Vietnam.

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