Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses signed cooperation deals worth nearly $11 billion at the Vietnam-Singapore business dialogue on February 25, which was attended by Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Speaking at the event, which drew more than 100 businesses in different sectors of the two countries, Phuc said he hoped the deals would be realised early, and urged both Vietnamese and Singaporean enterprises to take practical actions to contribute to the growth of bilateral relations, especially when the two sides celebrate their 50th diplomatic ties and 10 years of strategic partnership in 2023.

Underlining the role of businesses in implementing the two countries’ cooperation strategies, the president pledged that Vietnam would always create optimal conditions for enterprises of both sides to develop their partnership by improving its business environment, increasing transparency and dealing with problems in logistics, land and human resources.

The state leader said that Vietnam was rolling out measures to speed up economic recovery with the targets of seven per cent of economic growth in 2022 and an inflation rate of under five per cent. From now to 2025, the country aimed for an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5-to-seven per cent per year, with the digital economy accounting for 20 per cent of the GDP, he said, stating that this would be a good chance for Singaporean firms to increase investment in Vietnam.

Vietnam would prioritise foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that use high technology, help Vietnamese firms to engage deeper into the value chains and contribute to promoting the digital economy as well as sustainable growth of Vietnam, he said.

Phuc advised Vietnamese and Singaporean firms to focus on collaborating in prioritised areas such as high technology, digital transformation and innovation, while fostering economic connectivity within the ASEAN and in the region, and making the best use of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The president said that Vietnam and Singapore encouraged the connection of the two economies through digital platforms, which had been reflected in the signing of cooperation deals between ministries and sectors of both sides during his ongoing Singaporean visit.

He added that he hoped more Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VISIP) would be built across Vietnam.

Singapore’s Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said that Singaporean firms were growing strongly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and expanding their business in other localities such as Vinh Phuc, Quang Ninh and Binh Duong.

He said that he and Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien had agreed on cooperation orientations in various fields, including digital economy, energy, digital certification in food production, and agriculture.

At the dialogue, Saigon Telecom Technology JSC (SAIGONTEL) of Vietnam and Aurous Capital Pte Ltd of Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on investment cooperation in a $2.5 billion project – the largest inked at the event – to develop an industrial and urban complex in the northern province of Bac Giang.

Under the MoU, the two sides will conduct research and survey to build an investment project and apply for a licence to develop the complex, which would comprise 500ha of industrial estates and 200ha of housing, towards attracting projects in the fields of hi-technology; clean industry; knowledge-intensive industry and those creating higher added value; logistics and support industry.

The investors hope to start the project in 2022.

In recent times, Bac Giang has become an attractive destination for foreign investors, especially in terms of high technology. In the first two months of 2022, the locality attracted $303.3 million in investment.

Meanwhile, SOVICO Group and Keppel Group, and their subsidiaries of Keppel Land, Keppel Urban Solutions exchanged documents on their cooperation agreement worth $1.5 billion in developing sustainable energy and urbanisation solutions. SOVICO and Keppel Energy Ventures also exchanged documents for a $1.5 billion deal on developing comprehensively sustainable energy solutions for transition to a green economy and reduction of carbon emissions.

Besides, SOVICO, Vietjet Air and Changi Group reached a $1.5 billion deal on providing aviation services in Vietnamese airports. Vietjet Air and ST Engineering of Singapore also inked a contract on the supply of technical services and aeroplane equipment worth $150 million.

The Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HD Bank) and Thought Machine exchanged a deal on the integration of advanced technologies into digital banking services in Vietnam.

And, T&T Group signed an MoU with YCH Group of Singapore on studying a logistics project in Long An province’s Can Giuoc district.

At the same time, TH Group and HAO Mart, the leading supermarket chain in Singapore, also inked an MoU on strategic cooperation in selling and promoting clean milk and farm produce of TH in Singapore.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK