Fukang Technology factory of Foxconn Singapore Pte., Ltd with total registered capital of 453 million USD is built in Quang Chau industrial park, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is anticipating a great chanceto further promote its trade with Singapore, which has yet to be on par with thepotential of both nations, as President Nguyen Xuan Phuc is scheduled to pay a State visit to the city-state from February 24-26.

Despite adverse impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade hit 8.3 billion USD in 2021, up 23.3 percent from the previous year. In January 2022, the figure reached 783.9million USD, an increase of 6.8 percent year on year.    

As of February this year, Singa🌠pore had 2,860 valid projectsworth 66 billion USD, ranking second among 140 nations and territories worldwide pouringcapital into Vietnam. Notably, in 2021, Singapore took the lead among allforeign investors with combined registered investment of over 10.7 billion USD,accounting for 34.4 percent of the total capital attracted by Vietnam.

A spare part assembling line. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Vice Director of the Vietnam TradePromotion Agency (Vietrade)’s Export Support Centre, said Singapore is arelatively small market but a large free trade port, with almost norestrictions on imports. However, this market demands goods of very highquality, she noted.

According to the official, although the geographical distance betweenSingapore and Vietnam is not far, not many Vietnamese agricultural products,food and consumer goods can penetrate this market.

Tran Thu Quynh, Vietnamese Trade Counsellor in Singapore, said thereare 21 of the world's top 25 logistics service providers based in Singapore,while the country’s seaport system is currently connected with 600 ports in 123nations via 200 shipping routes.

Exporting goods to Singapore means Vietnamese businesses canserve local consumers and have a greater opportunity to approach internationalpartners, buyers and customers present in this country, she said.

Given complicated developments of COVID-19 , Vietnamesebusinesses can penetrate the Singaporean market through e-commerce platforms, Thuy suggested.

On the other hand, Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses havebeen advised to promote their cooperation by taking advantage of free tradeagreements (FTAs) that the two countries have joined such as the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Besides, as the only two countries in the region having comprehensive agreements with t🧜he EU and the UK, Vietnam and Singapore can supplement each other to jointly exploit and penetrate these markets./.