SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (The Straits Times/ANN): The Covid-19 pandemic saw a steep drop in the number of travellers between Singapore and Vietnam for the past two years, but the volume of trade between the two countries continued to grow at a steady pace.
Bilateral trade between Singapore and Vietnam reached S$26.9 billion last year, an 18.7 per cent increase from the year before, Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng had announced.
More Singapore companies are also choosing to invest in Vietnam, riding on and contributing to the country's steady economic growth, and Singapore's foreign direct investment into Vietnam amounted to nearly US$10.7 billion (S$14.5 billion) last year according to updates from Vietnam's authorities, making the Republic the largest investor in Vietnam last year, he added.
Dr Tan, who is also Manpower Minister, was speaking at a business dialogue held in conjunction with the state visit of Vietnam's President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The event at the Shangri-La Hotel, hosted by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), was attended by President Phuc and around 100 government officials and business leaders from Singapore and Vietnam.
Speaking in Vietnamese, Phuc said Vietnam hopes to grow not just the number but also the quality of investments from Singapore, in areas like the green economy and digital economy.
Both nations have shown the world that they can achieve high economic growth despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the President said, expressing the hope that Singapore will invest in more localities in Vietnam with the success of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs).
The first VSIP was launched in Binh Duong province in South Vietnam in 1996, and there are now 10 such parks all around the country.
Dr Tan noted that they have attracted US$15.6 billion in investments and created more than 290,000 jobs.
Beyond Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore companies are expanding into other regions such as Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh provinces in the north, and Binh Duong province in the south.
Singapore and Vietnam have also continued to identify new areas of bilateral economic cooperation, including in renewable energy, innovation and start-ups.
There are also ongoing partnerships in the infrastructure, industrial, digital, financial, agriculture, services, tourism, transport and education sectors.
SBF chairman Lim Ming Yan said that based on the federation's National Business Survey 2021/2022, Vietnam is ranked as one of the top three countries for overseas expansion by Singapore companies, particularly in manufacturing, infrastructure, wholesale and retail trade.
Lim added that Vietnam is expected to be one of the fastest growing South-east Asian economies, with a projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5 per cent for 2022.
As part of its GlobalConnect@SBF programme, SBF has since November 2019 facilitated 80 projects and provided 4,522 advisories to help Singapore businesses venture overseas.
More than 20 projects were focused on Vietnam and close to 200 Singapore companies have benefitted from SBF's advisory support to enter Vietnam.
SBF also set up the Singapore Enterprise Centre (SEC) in Ho Chi Minh City last year to provide on-the-ground support for Singapore businesses.
Earlier on Friday, Dr Tan and Vietnam's Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Economic and Trade Cooperation that underscored both countries' commitment to expand collaborations in the digital economy and facilitate business partnerships in the industrial and energy sectors.
It also seeks to encourage more information sharing on best practices, certification and standards in agriculture, as well as build more robust supply chains and facilitate smooth and continued trade flows between both countries even in times of crisis.
The signing was witnessed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President Phuc.
As a strong signal of the continued business interest between both countries, close to 30 MOUs were signed on Friday, spanning a wide range of sectors including infrastructure, industrial, agriculture, education, green and renewable energy, logistics, and smart urban development.
These include four MOUs inked by Sembcorp Industries with partners to develop a range of energy and urban solutions that will support Vietnam's energy transition and sustainable development.
Another of the MOUs signed was between Vietnam's TH Group and Singapore's Hao Mart for the former's fresh milk products, foodstuffs and organic agricultural products in the Singapore market.
"TH Group believes that all world-class e-commerce brands have set foot in Singapore, so our official presence in this nation... will demonstrate the strength of TH Group's brand in Asia", said Ms Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy, director of international marketing at TH Group. - The Straits Times/ANN
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