Speech and toast by President S R Nathan at Official Dinner Hosted by He Mr Vo Viet Thanh, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and Mdm Thanh, 9 February 2001, 7.00 pm

Your Excellency Chairman Vo Viet Thanh and Mdm Thanh,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of my wife and my delegation, I thank you and the people of Ho Chi Minh City for your warm welcome and hospitality.

My delegation and I have only arrived a few hours ago, but we are already struck by the vibrancy of your city. The dynamic energy of the city and the entrepreneurial spirit of its people is palpable. We can see that it is a city on the go, with a constant hive of construction activities. I am gratified that Singapore, through its investments in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding provinces, has in a small way, helped spur Vietnam's economic development.

I would like to mention in particular the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park and the Vietnam-Singapore Technical Training Centre in Binh Duong province that I will visit tomorrow. These projects are concrete symbols of our close cooperation. By attracting foreign investment and creating new jobs, they have contributed to the efforts of the people of Vietnam to industrialise the country.

Ho Chi Minh City, with its strategic location, is Vietnam's gateway to the world. Regular air links between Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City have expanded commercial ties and boosted tourism between our countries, attracting tourists to destinations like Dalat, Danang and Hue. As a major tourist destination ourselves, we are happy to work with your country and places like Ho Chi Minh City to promote two-way tourism.

As Vietnam presses boldly ahead with economic reforms, Ho Chi Minh City, as VietnamA?s centre of commerce and with its long and strong culture of market economy, will play a pivotal role in catalysing Vietnam's development. I am confident that given the complementarity and synergy between our cities, this will spur even more Singapore trade, investments and tourism.

Singapore is a small country. But as I have mentioned to your leaders in Hanoi, we will, within our capabilities, be happy to share our developmental experience with Vietnam. There is much that our peoples can learn from each other. This is to our mutual benefit. Both our countries have much to gain by working even more closely together. I would like to assure you that Singapore stands ready to promote greater economic cooperation with Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City.

Your Excellency, I hope that my visit will galvanise even greater interest in your country among Singapore businessmen. I am hopeful that they will see many new opportunities for trade and investment that are emerging in your country. Such enhanced economic cooperation will bring greater mutual prosperity and help to deepen bilateral ties between our countries. Your success and prosperity is in our interest.

Distinguished Guests

May I now invite you to rise and join me in a toast:

to the health of His Excellency Mr Tran Duc Luong, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

to the health of Your Excellency Chairman Vo Viet Thanh and Mdm Thanh;

to the success and prosperity of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City; and

to the close relationship between Vietnam and Singapore.