12 wide-ranging agreements set to bolster Vietnam-Singapore ties

Twelve MoUs signed Friday at the Singapore Regional Business Forum in Hanoi creates a framework for boosting wide ranging Vietnam-Singapore relations, senior officials say.

Among the areas covered by the MoUs are sustainability, digitalization, financial services and human capital development.

The event attracted over 800 business leaders, senior government officials and diplomats from more than 420 companies and organizations across 32 countries and economies.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and Singaporean Minister for Manpower & Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng attended the forum.

Khai urged businesses of both countries to strengthen cooperation and utilize each other's advantages in innovation and implementation of investments.

He said the Vietnamese government was committed to providing the best business environment in line with OECD standards with a focus on socioeconomic and political stability, supply chain development and reduction in administrative costs.

Khai also proposed that Singaporean businesses help Vietnam access financial resources for the country's green transition, facilitating innovation, infrastructure development, traffic improvements, startup growth, human resources development, and climate change responses. He said Singaporean support would be particularly useful in industrial-urban areas, digitalization and the energy sector.

Singapore’s Second Trade and Industry Minister Tan See Leng also identified innovation, energy connectivity and sustainability as three areas in which Singapore and Vietnam can work together to seize opportunities of the next decade and further deepen bilateral cooperation.

He noted that Vietnam and Singapore were among the top three startup ecosystems in Southeast Asia today.

“With our common goal of driving further economic growth through technology and innovation, there is scope to tap each other’s innovation ecosystems for partners, funding and talent,” he said.

On energy connectivity, Tan stressed that both countries shared a common vision of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

List of 12 Vietnam-Singapore MoUs signed in Hanoi, July 7, 2023

1. The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment signed a deal to strengthen cooperation in promoting investment and commercial collaboration between the business community of Singapore and Vietnam. The deal focuses on information exchange regarding investment policies, market insights, business opportunities in emerging sectors, potential investment projects, among others.

2. The SBF and Vietnam's Techcombank signed an MoU on cooperation in promoting investment and commercial collaborations between the business community of Singapore and Vietnam.

3. Techcombank, Deloitte Vietnam, PwC Vietnam, and Kyriba Singapore signed an MoU to establish a platform for raising the treasury maturity of Vietnamese companies, especially in the mid-market and upper SME segments.

4. PSA Vietnam, under port group PSA International, and Vietnam's Saigon Newport Corporation (SNP) signed an MoU to leverage their combined expertise to promote and enhance supply chain connectivity within Vietnam and ASEAN.

5 to 8. The United Overseas Bank (UOB) and the FIA signed an MoU to further facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Vietnam. This is an elevation of the first MoU signed by the two sides in 2015. The first MoU facilitated investments of S$5.7 billion in Vietnam.

UOB FinLab, Singapore's Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), Vietnam's Foreign Trade University (FTU), and Vietnam's National Innovation Center (NIC) signed three MoUs on growing Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) network, supporting businesses in their digitalization and sustainability journeys, and giving internships to students.

9. Keppel Corporation Limited, Singapore's Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Vietnam's National Innovation Center signed an MoU on talent development, innovation, entrepreneurship and start-up.

10. The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Vietnam's National Innovation Center (NIC) signed an MoU to facilitate bilateral cooperation in developing innovation and enterprise ecosystems.

11. Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) and Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Company (VSIP)  signed an agreement to leverage the former's pool of over 5,000 member companies and encourage more Singapore manufacturing companies in various industries to invest and set up manufacturing plants and supply chains in Vietnam. 

12. Forte Biotech Vietnam Co., Ltd (FBT) and the College of Aquaculture and Fisheries under Vietnam's Can Tho University signed an MoU on verification tests, evaluation, scientific seminars, training and creating employment opportunities for students.