National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man's upcoming official visits to Singapore and Japan hold great significance as they aim to materialise Vietnam's foreign policy and foster sustainable, substantive parliamentary cooperation with these two countries, contributing to bolster the already sound ties with Singapore and Japan.

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man's upcoming official visits to Singapore and Japan hold great significance as they aim to materialise Vietnam's foreign policy and foster sustainable, substantive parliamentary cooperation with these two countries, contributing to bolster the already sound ties with Singapore and Japan.

Strong progress in Vietnam-Singapore relations

Singapore remains a key partner of Vietnam in the region. Over five decades since the establishment of diplomatic ties (1973-2024) and 10 years of strategic partnership (2013-2024), bilateral relations have grown robustly across all channels - Party, government, parliament, and people-to-people exchange.

The two sides have maintained regular high and all-level visits and cooperation mechanisms, through which many agreements were signed, including a Digital-Green Economy Partnership, paving the way for stronger collaboration in such areas as green finance, clean energy trade, and climate change response. Both sides also expressed their intention to elevate ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership at an appropriate time.

In terms of economy, in the first nine months of 2024, trade between Vietnam and Singapore reached 7.6 billion USD, an increase of 12.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Singapore is Vietnam's fourth-largest trading partner in ASEAN, with over 3,800 active projects and cumulative investment capital exceeding 81 billion USD. It ranks second among 145 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Singaporean businesses have invested in nearly all sectors of Vietnam’s economy across 51 provinces and cities, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, and Long An. The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) network symbolises successful bilateral economic partnership.

Meanwhile, Vietnam currently has 153 active investment projects in Singapore, with a total registered capital of over 690 million USD, ranking 10th out of 80 countries and territories receiving Vietnamese investments. These investments focus on sectors such as science and technology, wholesale and retail, information and communications, real estate, and manufacturing.

Cooperation in education, human resources training, defence and security, and tourism are highlights of the bilateral relationship. The Vietnamese community in Singapore numbers around 25,000, consisting largely of intellectuals.

Relations between the NA of Vietnam and the Parliament of Singapore have continued to develop positively in recent years, both bilaterally and multilaterally. Bilaterally, the two sides maintain high and all-level delegation exchanges, as well as interactions at various levels, including between specialised committees and parliamentarians.

Recently, at the 45th AIPA General Assembly in Laos, NA Chairman Man met with Singapore’s Parliament Speaker Seah Kian Peng. They discussed bilateral cooperation across all channels and legislative bodies, agreeing to strengthen collaboration, increase high-level and multi-level exchanges, and support each other’s positions at regional and global multilateral forums.

Vietnam-Japan ties at best stage

Since the Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations was established in 1973, their relationship has exemplified the success of Vietnam’s bilateral cooperation with global partners. The two countries celebrated 50 years of diplomatic ties and elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world in 2023.

Japan remains Vietnam's top economic partner. Japan is Vietnam's largest provider of ODA, the second largest partner in labour, the third biggest in investment, the third in tourism, and the fourth in trade. Bilateral relationship is at its most robust phase, marked by high political trust, frequent high-level exchanges, and deep economic collaboration.

As of the end of August, Japan had run 5,417 valid FDI projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of over 79.3 billion USD, ranking third after the Republic of Korea and Singapore among 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. In trade, Vietnam’s total import-export turnover with Japan in the first eight months of 2024 reached 30.47 billion USD, an increase of 5.07% compared to the same period in 2023. Vietnam’s exports to Japan amounted to 16.1 billion USD, up 5.6%.

More than 110 cooperation agreements have been signed between Vietnamese and Japanese localities, fostering vibrant exchanges in areas like investment, trade, labour, and cultural exchange. Prominent locality-to-locality partnerships include those of Ho Chi Minh City-Osaka, Hanoi-Tokyo, and Da Nang-Yokohama.

Cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and cooperation in human resources between Vietnam and Japan are becoming increasingly close and effective. The Vietnamese community in Japan has nearly 600,000 members across all 47 provinces and cities of Japan, mostly in Aichi, Tokyo, Osaka, Saitama, Chiba, and the Kyushu region.

Cooperation between the parliaments of Vietnam and Japan has been steadily strengthened, alongside bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, with the two legislatures regularly exchanging high-level visits, sharing experiences among their committees, and supporting the implementation of bilateral agreements.

Deepening ties among legislatures of Vietnam, Singapore and Japan

Parliamentary collaboration is a key channel of the partnership between Vietnam and both Singapore and Japan. Over the years, Vietnam’s NA has shared sound bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the parliaments of Singapore and Japan.

Vice Chairwoman of the NA Committee for External Relations Le Thu Ha said she believes that the Vietnamese top legislator's visits will help deepen collaboration between the legislative bodies through increased exchanges, committee-level cooperation, and partnerships among parliamentarians, including young and female lawmakers.

The visits will also leverage the role of the friendship parliamentary alliance and friendship parliamentarians’ groups to promote people-to-people exchanges, business cooperation, and locality-to-locality partnerships, while promoting the legislative bodies in enhancing oversight of the implementation of agreements and treaties, refine legal frameworks to support socio-economic development, and encourage business investment and collaboration. The visits are also hoped to help the legislatures of the three countries to increase mutual support at multilateral forums and organisations as well as regional and international parliamentary forums, said Ha.

Particularly, a cooperation agreement between Vietnam’s NA and Japan's House of Councillors, to be signed during the visit, is expected to enhance the effectiveness of legislative collaboration between the two bodies, facilitating bilateral cooperation initiatives as well as joint efforts in multilateral forums.

Ha said that the visits will also help foster locality-to-locality ties between Vietnam and the two countries, producing tangible benefits for local communities and businesses of the three countries./.