Vietnam-Singapore meeting: Exchange and promote cooperation in many fields

According to information from the Ministry of Finance , on September 22, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Finance held a Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) to prepare for the 19th Vietnam-Singapore Economic Connectivity Ministerial Meeting (CMM).

The meeting took place in both in-person and online formats, with the participation of delegates from Vietnam and Singapore. Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Debt Management and Foreign Economic Relations , Ministry of Finance, said that the Vietnam-Singapore relationship is on the path of strong, substantive and effective development in many fields.

After 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations and 10 years of establishing a Strategic Partnership, Vietnam and Singapore have officially upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is a remarkable development, demonstrating deep political trust and opening a new stage of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

“The meeting will review the implementation results of the connection areas between the two countries agreed upon at the 18th CMM Conference, research and propose new cooperation contents to include in the agenda of the 19th CMM Conference and discuss preparations for the conference,” said Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh.

Ms. Wong Yoke Hui, Director General of the Southeast Asia and Oceania Department, Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, said that at the 18th Meeting held in Singapore last year, the two sides had in-depth discussions on how Singapore and Vietnam could strengthen cooperation in key areas such as energy, carbon credits, agricultural trade and innovation to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment relations.

The two sides also agreed on the principles for implementing the Singapore-Vietnam Innovation Talent Exchange Programme, enabling experts from both countries to work in eligible fields in both Singapore and Vietnam.

“This year’s meeting is particularly significant as it is the first since our bilateral relationship was upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March this year. We are also delighted to welcome our new colleagues from the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam to work with the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore under the CMM,” Ms. Wong Yoke Hui emphasized.

Regarding the investment sector, a representative of the Foreign Investment Agency of the Ministry of Finance said that as of August 31, 2025, Singaporean investors had 4,226 valid projects with a total registered capital of more than 87.6 billion USD, ranking second out of 152 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The average project size is over 20.7 million USD/project, higher than the general average project size of about 11.9 million USD/project. Meanwhile, Vietnamese investors have invested in 190 projects in Singapore with a total registered capital of over 685 million USD.

At the meeting, the two sides exchanged experiences in effectively attracting FDI, especially in building strategies and legal corridors to create an attractive investment environment and rationally use investment incentives in attracting FDI capital; enhancing dialogue between businesses of both sides, creating favorable conditions for businesses to participate in supply chains; at the same time, coordinating research and proposing specific and outstanding policy mechanisms to develop an International Financial Center in Vietnam associated with green finance, financial technology and trade finance.

Continue to promote upgrading and building new generation VSIPs towards sustainability, smartness, innovation, and enhanced environmental and social responsibility. Regarding agriculture and sustainable development, Vietnam proposed that Singapore complete the permission for the export of commercial poultry eggs and frozen poultry meat from Vietnam to Singapore due to the close geographical location of the two countries, which creates favorable conditions for cooperation in the field of import and export and ensures food security between the two countries.

Especially the cooperation in exporting vegetables and seafood. These are Vietnam's strengths and also account for a large proportion of exports to Singapore.

Vietnam also proposed that Singapore increase imports of fresh agricultural products (seafood, vegetables and fruits) from Vietnam, and support connections with reputable credit institutions to help Vietnam implement its commitments and global initiatives on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.

Regarding the fields of construction and transportation, the two sides assessed that the cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore in the fields of construction and transportation continues to be maintained and developed positively, increasingly going into depth and bringing practical results.

The two sides have made remarkable progress in a number of key areas such as aviation and maritime connectivity, promoting green energy conversion, etc. In the energy sector, Vietnam and Singapore continue to coordinate to study the feasibility of promoting electricity trade between the two countries.

Regarding the field of Finance and Banking, a representative of the Foreign Legal Affairs Department of the State Securities Commission said that recently, the State Securities Commission has actively coordinated with Singaporean agencies to organize many activities to promote financial cooperation.

At the meeting, delegates attending in person and online exchanged and discussed information on the fields of tourism, construction-transportation, information technology and telecommunications, education and human resources training, and cooperation in Industry 4.0...

During the discussion session on the Agenda and organization of the 19th CMM Conference, the two sides agreed to continue to strengthen coordination to soon complete the contents of the Memorandum of Understanding, ensuring that it is consistent with the development orientation of each enterprise as well as the bilateral cooperation strategy, especially the need to complete it promptly to be able to present it at the 19th CMM Conference.

“With a solid foundation of cooperation and high consensus, Vietnam and Singapore will continue to achieve many new achievements in the coming time,” emphasized Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Debt Management and Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry of Finance./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/phien-hop-viet-nam-singapore-trao-doi-thuc-day-hop-tac-tren-nhieu-linh-vuc-post1063339.vnp