SINGAPORE: Singapore and Vietnam will deepen exchanges and training between their government officials, and also expand technology cooperation.
This was formalised on the sidelines of the first Singapore-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue on Tuesday (Aug 25), when the two countries exchanged an agreement on study visits for senior Vietnamese officials and released a joint statement on technology connectivity strategy.
Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing, who co-chairs the dialogue with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Cam Tu, said the two nations established the new high-level forum because strong bilateral relations have provided the foundations for the South-east Asian neighbours to look ahead together.
Addressing the dialogue’s participants at the Conrad Singapore Marina Bay Hotel, Chan said Singapore and Vietnam share a warm and longstanding friendship because successive generations of leaders invested in strengthening ties and building mutual trust.
Both sides want the next generation of their leaders to also build relationships, and the new platform is where they can exchange perspectives on emerging challenges and identify areas where they can work together, he added.
“Many of the opportunities we discuss today will take time to materialise,” said Chan, who is also minister-in-charge of the Public Service. “The leaders in this room, and those who follow us, will need to continue working together.”
The strategic dialogue was established during a state visit here by Vietnamese President To Lam in May, and comes after the two nations elevated diplomatic ties in 2025 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
The CSP – a wide-ranging pact to deepen cooperation in security and defence as well as emerging areas such as renewable energy and the digital economy – is Singapore’s first with an Asean member state.
Tu, who is a permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) Central Committee Secretariat, said the dialogue is Vietnam’s first with a foreign partner, and reflects the increasingly deep level of political trust and the importance of the relationship between the two countries.
Singapore seeks to develop ‘pi-shaped’ leaders
Addressing the participants, Chan said Singapore’s view is that the quality and capability of governments will increasingly distinguish successful nations from the rest.
This is as countries now operate in a more complex environment where many of the conditions that have helped their economies to grow are weakening, while the boundaries between economic policy, technology policy, and national security are blurring.
Aspirations within societies are also becoming more diverse, while the emergence of artificial intelligence and other technologies offers both tremendous opportunities and also creates new risks and divides, he added.
The city-state’s approach is to invest deliberately in leadership as a strategic national capability, and to place considerable emphasis on identifying and developing leaders with the integrity, judgment and instinct to consider the long-term interests of the country, said Chan.
It also seeks to develop “pi-shaped” leaders that, like the Greek letter, have the depth and expertise in one or two sectors, but also sufficient breadth to understand issues across sectors, work across organisational boundaries and connect different perspectives.
“This is increasingly important because many of the challenges governments face today do not fit neatly within a single ministry,” he noted.
“Good outcomes depend not only on having strong individuals with deep expertise, but also having officers who can marshal resources and collaborate across government.”
The expectation is not for every leader to possess the same depth in every area, but that collectively the leadership team has sufficient depth across the issues that the Government must deal with and the breadth to integrate these perspectives to make decisions in the broader national interest, said Chan.
Tu said Vietnam is particularly interested to learn from Singapore’s experience in building a broad public administration and its effective national governance, as well as the Republic’s methods to build leaders with the vision and capacity to meet the development needs of the new era.
Both countries should expand the cooperation between their mass organisations and youth groups, and strengthen coordination in communication and education, he added in Vietnamese.
Vietnam’s priority is to train a pool of potential leaders and managers, especially those already identified for leadership positions and promising young graduates, so as to meet its development needs in the medium and long term, said Tu.
On technology cooperation, the Vietnamese leader urged both sides to leverage the role of the state, the scientific community and businesses to move from idea generation to commercialisation.
“The goal is not just to attract investment or technology transfers, but to jointly research, develop and master technology and build innovative products and ecosystems in support of both countries’ development and contribute to the region,” said Tu.
Chan agreed that there is an international dimension to harnessing technology. To unlock the potential of AI, facilitate cross-border data flows and integrate the digital economy, countries need common approaches and greater interoperability where possible.
Leaders do not need to be technologists but must have sufficient understanding and judgment to recognise opportunities, understand risks, and make informed decisions about how technology should be deployed, he added.
“Singapore and Vietnam share many common interests and challenges... I hope this inaugural dialogue will be the beginning of more sustained and meaningful exchanges between our countries,” said Chan.
Singapore’s delegation at the dialogue included Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State for Education and Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary and Minister of State for Defence Desmond Choo.
Vietnam was represented by Tu, head of the CPV Central Committee Organisation Commission Nguyen Duy Ngoc, head of the CPV Central Committee Policies and Strategies Commission Nguyen Thanh Nghi, head of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy Doan Minh Huan, Minister for Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan. - The Straits Times/ANN
