Geographical proximity and free trade agreements, such as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), have facilitated trade in goods between Vietnam and Singapore.

E-commerce is opening new opportunities for business access to the Singaporean market

Aiming to boost Vietnam’s exports to Singapore and other countries in the region, as well as to attract more foreign investment in domestic industries, the Vietnamese trade office in Singapore has coordinated with the Asia-Africa Market Department and the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade to organize an online conference themed “E-commerce: Potential of access to Singapore and other markets in the region.”

At the conference, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung said that in recent years, the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Singapore has grown positively. In 2023, the two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership. Singapore is Vietnam’s fifth largest trading partner in ASEAN. In 2022, trade between Vietnam and Singapore reached US$9.1 billion, up 11.6 percent compared with 2021.

“E-commerce plays an important role in trading activities. The Vietnamese Government has identified e-commerce as a priority of the digital economy. The Prime Minister issued Decision 645/QD-TTg dated May 15, 2020 approving the national master plan for e-commerce development in the 2021-2025 period with specific targets and implementation solutions,” Ambassador Dung said.

Singapore is a leading Southeast Asian country in terms of e-commerce development, with widespread use of mobile devices and broadband connections. Singaporean companies are greatly interested in Vietnam’s investment attraction policies, especially investment in e-commerce and digital transformation infrastructure. Jason Yu, Director of Shopee International Platform (SIP), presented a list of best-selling products on the Shopee international platform in Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and indicated necessary steps for businesses to start exporting goods through this platform.

Electronic components are among major Vietnamese exports to Singapore

Vincent Tan Hak Siang, Chairman of the Board at Advanced Produce Center Development (APC), introduced an auction platform for farm produce wholesale to help Vietnamese businesses access the Singaporean, Japanese and Chinese markets. He said APC plans to open a company in Vietnam in the near future.

Lista Nguyen, Managing Director of Nikko Singapore, helped small and medium enterprises identify the hindrances to their access to the global market. Major obstacles include a lack of market knowledge and international connections necessary for optimizing the trans-national marketing process, high transportation costs, and time-consuming delivery.

At the ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Singapore diplomatic relations (1973-2023) and the 10th anniversary of bilateral strategic partnership, Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said that Vietnam is one of the leading Asian countries in terms of socioeconomic development achievements. He added that Singaporean companies believe in long-term prospects of the Vietnamese economy, and that Singapore has been among top foreign investors in Vietnam since 2020. He wished that the two countries continue to bring into play the results of cooperation achieved over the past five decades to lay the foundation for further achievements in the next 50 years.