Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Singapore to Vietnam before the end of his term.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Ambassador expressed his sincere thanks for the cooperation and support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade during his nearly 5-year term in Vietnam. The Ambassador shared that during his term in Vietnam, he witnessed Vietnam overcome many challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, storms, floods, tax crisis, etc., but still maintained strong and stable growth momentum. Along with that, the Vietnam - Singapore cooperation relationship has been constantly strengthened and developed extensively. These are the valuable experiences that the Ambassador will bring with him in his next working journey.

Singapore is currently Vietnam's fourth largest trading partner in ASEAN. Two-way trade turnover increased by 26.5% in the 2021-2024 period (from 8.3 billion USD in 2021 to 10.5 billion USD in 2024). In the first 9 months of 2025 alone, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and Singapore reached 8.8 billion USD, an increase of 14.1% over the same period in 2024. In the investment sector, Singapore is the country with the largest newly registered investment capital in Vietnam in 2025. Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) are a symbol of effective economic cooperation between the two countries. There are currently 20 VSIPs in 13 provinces and cities of Vietnam, creating jobs for more than 300,000 workers.

Notably, in March 2025, during General Secretary To Lam 's visit to Singapore, the two countries officially upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking an important milestone in the development of bilateral relations; at the same time opening up the potential for comprehensive cooperation in many fields between the two countries.

In the field of rice trade, the two countries have successfully signed a Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade cooperation between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Singapore. This is Singapore's first rice trade agreement with a partner. In the field of energy, the PTSC (Vietnam) and Sembcorp (Singapore) Joint Venture is currently cooperating to research a project to export renewable energy from Vietnam to Singapore. In the field of digital economy, Singaporean e-commerce enterprises such as Grab, Shopee... continue to expand their operations and achieve many successes in the Vietnamese market.

The Ambassador expressed his hope that the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to support and closely coordinate to further promote potential cooperation projects between the two countries in the coming time.

On behalf of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang sent greetings and best wishes from Minister Nguyen Hong Dien to the Ambassador, and highly appreciated his active contributions in promoting the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore. The Deputy Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade always attaches importance to the substantive and effective cooperation with Singapore and is committed to continuing to closely coordinate with Singaporean authorities to further consolidate and expand bilateral trade and investment relations in the coming period.

The Deputy Minister expressed his belief that with his experiences and good feelings for Vietnam, the Ambassador will continue to be a bridge to promote cooperation, while promoting the image of the country, people and culture of Vietnam to Singaporean and international friends.

At the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang wished the Ambassador good health, happiness and success in his new position, believing that he will always be a close friend, contributing to deepening the friendship and strong cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore./.

Source: Foreign Market Development Department

Tags: Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang, Singapore, Vietnam - Singapore

Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/thu-truong-phan-thi-thang-chao-xa-giao-dai-su-dac-menh-toan-quyen-cong-hoa-singapore-tai-viet-nam-truoc-khi-ket-thuc-nhi.html