Permanent Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh received and worked with Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam

On May 12, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Hai Binh had a meeting and worked with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Singapore to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam.

Also attending the meeting on the Vietnamese side were Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hoa, Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration. On the Singapore side, there were Mr. Donald Tsang, Deputy Ambassador and officials from the Singapore Embassy in Vietnam.

Permanent Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh received and worked with Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam

At the beginning of the meeting, Ambassador Jaya Ratnam respectfully congratulated Vietnam on the important anniversaries in 2025, and congratulated Permanent Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh on his new position, especially during the period when bilateral relations are developing strongly.

Sharing about his tenure in Vietnam, Ambassador Jaya Ratnam expressed his desire to contribute to bringing the already excellent relationship between Vietnam and Singapore to a new height. He emphasized that strengthening cooperation in the cultural and social fields is an important orientation to further deepen and create balanced development, commensurate with the newly established Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework.

Affirming the fundamental role of people-to-people exchanges, the Ambassador recalled the success of recent high-level visits, especially the official visit to Singapore by General Secretary To Lam and the official visit to Vietnam by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, considering these as strong driving forces to promote comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Singapore to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam.

Welcoming Ambassador Jaya Ratnam and the delegation who visited and worked with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Permanent Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh affirmed that he will continue to make efforts to promote the flow of multi-dimensional information, promote the country and people of Singapore to the Vietnamese people and vice versa, bringing the image of Vietnam closer to the Singaporean public.

The Deputy Minister suggested that Singapore, with its successful experience, share lessons on internationalizing indigenous culture and localizing international culture, as well as experience in developing cultural industries, making Singapore a regional performing arts center and a destination for leading international artists. Vietnam also wishes to learn from Singapore's experience in digitizing, managing modern museums and libraries, and propose connecting cultural institutions of the two countries.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Hai Binh

The two sides reviewed the positive results of cooperation in recent times. Ambassador Jaya Ratnam expressed her impression of the classical art program hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two national music academies during the official visit to Singapore of General Secretary To Lam.

Singapore also informed about the plan to organize a joint art exhibition between artists of the two countries at the National Gallery of Singapore and wished to invite more Vietnamese artists and creative artists to visit, perform and work.

In terms of sports, friendly football matches have laid the foundation for deeper cooperation between the two sides. The Ambassador highly appreciated Vietnam's sports training centers such as the Football Training Center in Hung Yen and the SaiGon Sports City project, and expressed his desire to promote the exchange of training delegations between the two sides. In response, Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh also asked Singapore to share its experience in building modern sports complexes.

Tourism has been identified as a potential focus of cooperation. The number of visitors exchanged between the two countries is constantly among each other's top markets, demonstrating the attractiveness of each destination.

Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh and Ambassador Jaya Ratnam agreed that enhancing air connectivity is a key factor. The two sides agreed to update the content of the Government-level tourism cooperation agreement and continue to expand cooperation in cruise tourism through destinations such as Nha Trang and Phu Quoc.

Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh proposed the idea that the two countries could become complementary destinations in a journey to explore Southeast Asia, providing diverse experiences (modern Singapore - traditional Vietnam) to attract visitors from distant markets. Organizing tourism business forums and meeting tour operators are also considered practical solutions.

Delegates took photos and exchanged souvenirs.

Faced with the challenges of the digital age, Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh proposed that the two sides strengthen cooperation and support each other in the fields of information digitization, communications and handling of misinformation and fake news through seminars and workshops.

The Deputy Minister also suggested that both sides consider expanding cooperation to other potential areas so that bilateral relations can become more in-depth, substantive, and worthy of a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Deputy Minister highly appreciated Singapore's ability to "make good things even better".

At the meeting, Ambassador Jaya Ratnam respectfully invited Deputy Minister Le Hai Binh to visit Singapore soon to continue discussing and promoting cooperation contents.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/thu-truong-thuong-truc-le-hai-binh-tiep-va-lam-viec-voi-dai-su-singapore-tai-viet-nam-jaya-ratnam-20250512190448643.htm