Official Visit of His Excellency Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 8 to 10 February 2023

His Excellency Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is on an Official Visit to Singapore from 8 to 10 February 2023. Prime Minister Chinh received a ceremonial welcome at the Istana this morning and called on President Halimah Yacob. He met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who also hosted an official lunch. Prime Minister Chinh and his spouse Mdm Le Thi Bich Tran had a new orchid hybrid, the Papilionanda Pham Le Tran Chinh, named in their honour.

President Halimah and Prime Minister Chinh reaffirmed the excellent relations between Singapore and Vietnam, underpinned by multifaceted cooperation across many sectors including trade and investment, finance, security and defence, energy, sustainability, and close people-to-people ties.

Prime Minister Lee and Prime Minister Chinh reaffirmed Singapore and Vietnam’s shared commitment to strengthen and expand our bilateral agenda as both countries commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10^th anniversary of our Strategic Partnership this year. They welcomed the extensive and robust economic cooperation between Singapore and Vietnam, and agreed to step up cooperation in new and emerging areas such as renewable energy, carbon credits, and the digital economy. The two Prime Ministers discussed ways to further enhance the cooperative mechanisms between Singapore and Vietnam. Prime Minister Lee expressed Singapore’s continued support for Vietnam’s human resource development and capacity building.

The two Prime Ministers exchanged views on regional and international developments. They emphasised the importance of upholding ASEAN Centrality and unity, deepening regional economic integration, and upholding an open and inclusive regional architecture.

Both Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of (a) the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Green-Digital Economic Partnership between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Singapore; (b) the MOU on Economic and Trade Cooperation Workplan between the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade; (c) the MOU on Maritime Cooperation between the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Maritime Administration of Vietnam; and (d) the renewed MOU on Youth Cooperation between the National Youth Council of Singapore and the National Committee on Youth of Vietnam.

In conjunction with Prime Minister Chinh’s visit, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam announced the launch of a pilot Collaborative Search and Examination Programme. The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies signed an MOU with the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam to promote cooperation in research and academic exchanges. In addition, Singapore Business Federation is planning to hold its flagship annual event, the 7^th Singapore Regional Business Forum, outside of Singapore for the first time in Hanoi this year.

Prime Minister Chinh will meet Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Singapore parliamentarians at Parliament House this afternoon. He will have meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong and Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Prime Minister Chinh will also visit the Smart Nation CityScape exhibition.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

9 FEBRUARY 2023