Vietnam and Singapore have agreed to further strengthen bilateral economic relations, particularly in cruise tourism and investment facilitation.
The Southeast Asian countries, both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), signed two new agreements covering cruise tourism and investment facilitation at the 11th Vietnam-Singapore Connectivity Ministerial Meeting held in Vietnam.
Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry (MTI) Lim Hng Kiang and Vietnam Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh signed the pacts during the recent annual meeting that is part of the Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Framework Agreement established in December 2005.
The connectivity framework facilitates Singapore investments into Vietnam and improves linkages in sectors such as finance and information communication services between the two countries. It also calls for forging stronger people-to-people links in the education sector.
“There is scope to deepen economic collaboration. Singapore companies can contribute to Vietnam’s economic development in a wide range of sectors, including urban solutions, retail and food services, logistics, telecommunications as well as tourism and hospitality,” Lim said.
On cruise tourism, the two nations signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) to boost collaboration between the Singapore Tourism Board and Vietnam National Tourism Agency.
“This is a significant milestone that will further enable Southeast Asia to tap on the potential of more than 2 million cruise passengers travelling on some 980 Asia-to-Asia cruise products in 2015. The MOC is also a significant step towards ASEAN realising its full potential as the world’s next cruising region,” MTI said in a statement.
Under the MOC, Singapore and Vietnam will conduct activities such as cruise workshops to provide Vietnam with further expertise to develop its cruise industry and encourage exchange of information on regional cruise tourism developments.
In addition, the ministers signed a memorandum of understanding that focuses on collaboration between Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). This entails facilitating investments into Vietnam via UOB’s foreign direct investment (FDI) advisory unit in Ho Chi Minh City.
“This advisory unit provides a dedicated service to companies expanding into and out of Vietnam, by offering access to UOB’s full suite of banking solutions, network and strategic partners such as professional service providers and business associations,” added the statement.
In 2014, Singapore was Vietnam’s third largest foreign investor, with about US$32.7 billion in registered cumulative investments. Bilateral trade has also grown steadily over the last decade. In 2014, it rose by 17% year-on-year to reach S$20.4 billion (US$25 billion), making Vietnam Singapore’s 13th largest trading partner.
