President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (second from right) and Singaporean President Halimah Yacob (second from left) and their spouses (Photo: VNA)

During her stay, the Singapore President paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum in Hanoi, held talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, paid a courtesy visit to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

She also received Secretaries of the Party Committees of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and visited the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Bac Ninh province.

Welcoming the Singaporean President, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to its strategic partnership with Singapore, and suggested that the two countries effectively promote the great cooperation potential by increasing the exchange of visits and meetings at all levels and through all party, government, parliament, and people channels.

In President Jacob’s meetings with Prime Minister Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Hue, the leaders stressed the need for the two countries to boost cooperation in energy transition and digital transformation.

In their talks, the two Presidents noted with pleasure strong and dynamic developments in bilateral relations, especially in economic ties.

The two sides agreed to continue increasing the exchange of high-level delegations and to effectively maintain important cooperation mechanisms via party, state, government, and parliament channels and people-to-people exchanges.

Regarding regional and international issues, the two leaders reiterated ASESAN’s consistent stance on the East Sea and the significance of maintaining peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, and peacefully addressing disputes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

After the talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of various cooperation documents.

This is the first state visit by a foreign head of state to Vietnam since the 13th National Party Congress, and also the first overseas trip by the President of Singapore since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

The visit takes place as the two countries are looking toward the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship and the 10th year of their strategic partnership in 2023.