Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Linkage

The state visit to Singapore from May 29 to 31 by General Secretary and President To Lam demonstrated further development in bilateral relations, serving Vietnam's national development goals.

General Secretary and President To Lam and the delegation visited a model factory for advanced manufacturing technology in Singapore on May 30 - Photo: VNA

This visit marks Singapore as the first country in Southeast Asia that he has visited at the state level in his capacity as head of state and party.

The strategic challenge for Vietnam's development in the coming period is to launch a comprehensive attack. Singapore's experience in development shows that it launched a comprehensive attack, prioritizing strategic approaches to mobilize resources.

Professor Vu Minh Khuong

Strengthening political trust

For those closely observing the relationship between Vietnam and Singapore, the most noteworthy aspect this time, politically, is the elevation of strategic cooperation through the establishment of a Strategic Dialogue mechanism between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the People's Action Party of Singapore.

Previously, Vietnam and Singapore only had an annual meeting mechanism between their Prime Ministers, established in 2023 and taking place for the first time in 2024.

Singapore's Ambassador to Vietnam, Rajpal Singh, said that strong ties at the leadership level have laid the foundation for bilateral relations, demonstrating the importance both sides place on this relationship.

"This also demonstrates the strong momentum since the two countries upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership last year," Ambassador Rajpal Singh affirmed in an interview with Vietnamese media.

The establishment of a dialogue mechanism between the two ruling parties can therefore be seen as a major step forward, demonstrating a higher level of political trust between the two sides, which forms the foundation for more robust and effective substantive cooperation in other areas. This also indicates that neither side wants the bilateral relationship to remain merely symbolic.

From an economic perspective, the results of the visit show that Vietnam-Singapore relations are gradually moving away from the rut of "increased trade, large investments".

"According to foreign assessments, if Vietnam and Singapore forge a strong strategic economic partnership, it is certain that Vietnam will rapidly transform from a developing country to a developed country within the next 20 years," Professor Vu Minh Khuong (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore) told Tuoi Tre newspaper.

VSIP - a symbol of cooperation

During the visit, General Secretary and President To Lam and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong jointly witnessed the awarding of investment registration certificates for five new Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) in Hue, Nghe An, Hai Phong, Ninh Binh, and Ho Chi Minh City.

These projects bring the total number of VSIPs in Vietnam to 26, nearly reaching the target of 30 that leaders from both sides set to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first VSIP's launch.

For many years, VSIP has been a symbol of successful bilateral cooperation, with a presence throughout Vietnam. As Ambassador Rajpal Singh put it, "if you want to travel all over Vietnam, just visit the VSIP industrial parks."

The fact that during this visit both sides agreed to promote the development of new-generation VSIP industrial parks that are more technologically advanced, greener, smarter, and linked to technology transfer is a valuable signal.

This means that Vietnam not only wants to continue attracting capital from Singapore but wants to go further: to draw that capital into higher value-added links, creating a spillover effect in governance, technology, and production capacity. This is where the difference lies between growth through economies of scale and development through quality.

"Our approach to cooperation with Singapore this time is not just about having land and resources anymore, but we are actually at a higher level of strength, meaning we can harness the power of technology and innovation so that the synergistic strength of the two countries can create very important transformations," Professor Vu Minh Khuong affirmed.

The Vietnam-Singapore Technology Connectivity Forum held on May 29th, as well as the two sides' efforts to promote initiatives connecting the Vietnam-Singapore technology ecosystem, support for the operation of national data centers, high-performance computing centers, and artificial intelligence, demonstrate a shift in cooperative thinking from "buying technology" to "jointly building technological capacity."

A visit to the A*Star Model Factory – a facility that helps Singaporean businesses overcome investment risk barriers, allowing them to "test before adopting" advanced technologies – is also a testament to this shift.

At the factory, General Secretary and President To Lam was impressed with how Singapore creates an environment for businesses to directly test technology before making large investments. He affirmed that this is a very practical, constructive mindset: the State shares the initial risks, businesses boldly innovate, and scientists are closely linked to the production needs and productivity of the economy.

According to him, this is also the direction of thinking that Vietnam is promoting in its science and technology policy: if only safety is chosen, there will be no breakthroughs; therefore, Vietnam is perfecting a mechanism for accepting reasonable risks in research and encouraging the experimentation of new technologies.

In other words, this shows that Vietnam is no longer interested in technology merely as an imported product, but views it as an ecosystem that needs to be designed with institutions, seed capital, risk-taking mechanisms, and human resource training. This is the fundamental difference between a manufacturing-based economy and an economy that wants to move up the ladder of innovation.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gan-ket-chien-luoc-viet-nam-singapore-20260531002507044.htm