National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man’s recent official visits to Singapore and Japan were successes, producing substantive results, contributing to strengthening political trust and creating new impetus for further deepening the relations between Vietnam and the two countries, said Chairman of the NA’s Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man’s recent official visits to Singapore and Japan were successes, producing substantive results, contributing to strengthening political trust and creating new impetus for further deepening the relations between Vietnam and the two countries, said Chairman of the NA’s Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha.

The official highlighted the significance of the visits to two of Vietnam's important partners in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, saying that with over 50 activities, the trips recorded substantive and comprehensive results across all channels - Party, parliament, government, and people-to-people exchange, and the key pillars of the Strategic Partnership with Singapore and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Japan.

The high-ranking leaders of Singapore and Japan offered a respectful, sincere, cordial, and warm reception to the top Vietnamese legislator, reflecting the strong trust and good political relations between Vietnam and the two countries, Ha said.

Notably, the visit to Singapore took place at the time when two countries agreed to soon elevate their relations, contributing to creating momentum to promote their ministries, sectors, and businesses to actively implement signed cooperation agreements, he went on.

Japanese leaders highly valued Man’s trip to their country, affirming that Vietnam is a key partner of Japan in the Asia-Pacific and ASEAN. According to Ha, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru acknowledged Vietnam’s great development potential, saying that it is poised to become a leading nation in Asia.

Meanwhile, President of the House of Councilors of Japan Sekiguchi Masakazu expressed his belief that 2024 will mark the beginning of a new journey of cooperation between the two countries in the next five decades. The PM and the Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore have both accepted the invitation to visit Vietnam in 2025. The Singaporean President and PM also invited and expressed their desire to welcome Party General Secretary To Lam to visit Singapore at an appropriate time, possibly in 2025, Ha said.

For parliament cooperation, the Vietnamese, Singaporean and Japanese leaders emphasised the important role of legislative bodies in promoting bilateral relations, agreeing to make efforts to further deepen and concretise the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership and the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership through the parliamentary channel; and further strengthen the important role of parliamentary friendship groups/alliances in boosting people-to-people exchanges, business cooperation, and cooperation between Vietnamese localities with Singaporean and Japanese peers.

He noted that a highlight of the Japan visit was the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Vietnamese NA and the House of Councilors of Japan, which lays a legal foundation for the two legislative bodies to continue implementing and concretising the results achieved, as well as expanding cooperation in various fields, thereby deepening the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

To promote substantive cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the Singaporean Parliament, the top Vietnamese legislator and Singaporean leaders agreed to continue effectively implementing the cooperation agreement between the two parliaments, contributing to elevating the Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership to a new height.

Regarding economic cooperation, the sides affirmed that economic cooperation continues to be the key pillar of the Vietnam-Singapore and Vietnam-Japan relations. They agreed to further strengthen economic links, and promote collaboration in high-quality infrastructure; and proposed new areas of cooperation like emissions reduction, semiconductors, energy, digital transformation, and green transition, towards concretising and deepening the new framework of cooperation across all the channels of Party, parliament, government, and people-to-people exchange.

One of the highlights of the relations between Vietnam and Singapore is the success of the 18 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) across 13 provinces and cities in Vietnam. Singaporean leaders emphasised that the next generation of VSIP 2.0 will not only increase in number but will also meet new standards, such as green, smart, and sustainable VSIPs.

The Singaporean side highly valued the significance of establishing a green - digital economic partnership, which lays the foundation for promoting cooperation between the two countries in emerging growth areas, such as green logistics, data centres, semiconductors, energy security, food security, and green finance. Singapore eyes to boost cooperation with Vietnam in connectivity, digital transformation, and innovation, which Singapore prioritises and Vietnam has great potential with its young and talented workforce.

Meanwhile, the Japan side supported strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation, and ODA partnership with Vietnam, saying that Japan is speeding up the diversification of supply chains, and many Japanese companies are eager to invest in Vietnam. They reaffirmed their commitment to continue contributing to strengthening bilateral relations across areas, thus deepening economic cooperation between the two nations.

The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)’s leaders hoped that the Japan-Vietnam joint initiative in the new era launched in March 2024 will generate significant results, particularly in new areas such as green growth, digital transformation, innovation, and high-quality human resources development.

Large corporations and enterprises of Singapore and Japan expressed their interest in and a strong desire to expand their investments in Vietnam in infrastructure, urban planning, energy, real estate, trade, retail, human resources training, and labour cooperation.

For security and defence cooperation, Vietnam and Singapore will further promote dialogue mechanisms, exchanges, cybersecurity cooperation, search and rescue, military medicine, maritime connectivity, and partnership in protecting the marine environment and ecosystems through applying new technologies. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Japan agreed to boost cooperation in security - defence, including strengthening collaboration in UN peacekeeping operations, supporting Vietnam in addressing post-war consequences, and rescue and relief efforts./.