Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse willpay official visits to Singapore and Brunei from February 8-11 at theinvitation of Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong🌳 and Sultan of Brunei HasanalBolkiah.

It will be Chinh's firstvisits to the two countries in his new position, and the first to Singaporeafter five years and to Brunei after 15 years by a head of the Vietnamese Government, with aview to strengthening bilateral ties with the two nations. This year, Vietnamand Singapore will celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateraldiplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of bilateral comprehensivepartnership. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Brunei marked the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties last year. Singapore is now Vietnam’stop important economic partner in the region, with two-way trade nearing 9billion USD last year, up 10.1% annually. The island state leads ASEAN andranks second among the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with3,032 valid projects worth 70.39 billion USD. At present, 12Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in nine Vietnamese cities and provinces havean occupancy rate of around 83.2%, attracting 17.6 billion USD for some 900projects and generating roughly 300,000 jobs. During recentvisits, the two countries’ leaders agreed on several major orientations to cooperationin new fields such as digital economy, digital transformation, regional andglobal supply chain connectivity, green economy, sustainable development, andchain collaboration in manufacturing. Apart from nationaldefence and security cooperation, bilateral coordination in education, cultureand tourism has also been bolstered via specific and practical agreements andmemoranda of understanding. At multilateralforums and international arenas, both sides worked closely together on regionaland global issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue. PM Chinh’s visit toSingapore aims to lift Vietnam-Singapore economic connectivity to a greaterheight in the context that a series of new-generation free trade deals joinedby the two nations have taken effect, including the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Meanwhile, two-waytrade between Vietnam and Brunei hit 725.8 million USD in 2022, up 134% year-on-year,surpassing the goal of 500 million USD set for 2025 by their leaders. In the near future,the two sides have demand to boost joint work in promising areas such asagro-forestry-fisheries, Halal food, construction, infrastructure and joint ventures. As of December 2022,Brunei ranked 26th out of the 141 countries and territories investing inVietnam with 157 valid projects valued at 971 million USD, mostly in industry, manufacturingand processing, construction and real estate. The southern province of Dong Naiwas the biggest recipient of its investment capital, followed by Binh Duong, BaRia - Vung Tau, Long Anh, Thai Binh and Phu Tho. The two nationsoffered mutual liaison within ASEAN and at regional and global forums. They also stepped up sea andocean cooperation, including fisheries activities and aquaculture, whilerecording progress in oil and gas coordination with the launch of aPetroVietnam Drilling branch in Brunei. Memoranda ofunderstanding on agriculture and aquaculture were also signed by the twoGovernments in May 2013. The meeting of the joint working group on aquaculture washeld in Brunei in 2014, in Ho Chi Minh City in 2015 and in Brunei in 2017. The two sides inkedan MoU on education cooperation in April 2014 and another on tourismcollaboration in November 2011. They offer visa waiver to their citizens holdingordinary passports for travel, and are negotiating to extend visa exemptionperiod for ordinary, diplomatic and official passport holders. As of November 2022, there were close to 300 Vietnamese living inBrunei, including students pursuing doctorate education at the University of Brunei Darussalam and over 200working there./.