On February 9, an official welcome ceremony was held by Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong for his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

The ceremony was hosted by Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong and his Spouse.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister is being accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, Chairman of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises Nguyen Hoang Anh, Deputy Defence Minister Hoang Xuan Chien, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Mai Phuoc Dung, Deputy Chief of the CPV Central Committee Office Bui Van Thach, Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Van Tuyen and Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Huu Do.

This is the first trip to Singapore by a head of the Vietnamese Government over the past five years, taking place at a time when the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership is developing strongly and dynamically across all fields.

The ceremony was hosted by Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong and his Spouse. (Photo; WVR/Nguyen Hong)

This year, the two countries are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10 years of their strategic partnership.

The two nations have regularly and effectively maintained high and all-level delegation exchanges and meetings, along with expanding defence and security cooperation. Collaboration in other areas such as education, culture, and tourism has also been bolstered through specific agreements and memoranda of understanding.

Singapore is now Vietnam’s top important economic partner in the region, with two-way trade nearing 9 billion USD last year, up 10.1% year-on year. The island state leads ASEAN and ranks second among 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 3,032 valid projects worth 70.39 billion USD.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong review the Guard of Honour. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

At present, 12 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) in nine Vietnamese cities and provinces have an occupancy rate of around 83.2%, attracting 17.6 billion USD for some 900 projects and generating roughly 300,000 jobs.

Vietnam and Singapore have worked closely together on regional and international matters of shared concern, including the East Sea issue, while strengthening cooperation at multilateral organisations and forums such as the United Nations (UN), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong skake hands. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

In recent high-level visits, leaders of the two nations agreed on a number of major cooperation directions, especially in new areas such as the digital economy, digital transformation, regional and global supply chain connections, the building of the green economy, sustainable development, and cooperation in the production chain.

Prime Minister Chinh’s visit to Singapore aims to lift Vietnam-Singapore economic connectivity to a new height in the context that a series of new-generation free trade deals joined by the two nations have taken effect, including the CPTPP and RCEP.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong after the official welcome ceremony. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

As scheduled, after the official welcome ceremony, Prime Minister Chinh will have meetings with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, hold talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and witness the exchange of cooperation agreements between the two countries.