Two PMs power Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks development, bilateral ties

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong keep acting as a driving force for the development of Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) in Vietnam.

The two PMs attended an event in Hanoi on Tuesday, Lee’s last day in his three-day working visit, on the VSIPs to witness the virtual ground-breaking ceremony of three VSIPs (Can Tho, Bac Ninh 2, and Nghe An 2), and the presentation of the investment licenses for two new VSIPs – in Lang Son province in the north and Binh Thuan in the south-central region.

The existing 13 VSIPs that have been awarded investment licenses by Vietnam so far, not including the ones in the pipeline, have generated significant economic growth across north, central and south Vietnam, attracting more than $18.4 billion in investments and creating about 300,000 jobs, according to Lee Hsien Loong’s office.

The first VSIP was set up in the southern province of Binh Duong in 1996 when Lee Kuan Yew, Lee’s late father, was Prime Minister of Singapore. The developer, VSIP Group, is a joint venture between Singapore’s conglomerate Sembcorp Industries and Binh Duong-based industrial developer Becamex IDC.

Following the virtual ground-breaking ceremony, the joint venture will break ground for its VSIP Can Tho on September 9. The park, the first VSIP in the Mekong Delta, will cover around 294 hectares in Can Tho city and embrace green production for sustainable industrial development. The VSIP Group has not publicized the investment outlay for its Mekong Delta project, or the days for two parks after VSIP Can Tho.

Under the two PMs’ witness, Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Petrovietnam, this state-run group's Petrovietnam Technical Services Corp (PTSC) and Sembcorp announced an approval for PTSC’s marine survey to explore the possibility in which Vietnam would export electricity to Singapore in the years to come from a would-be offshore wind farm.

The future offshore wind farm would be a partnership development by PTSC and Sembcorp.

The Tuesday event also introduced the Vietnam-Singapore i4.0 Innovation Center project in Binh Duong. The center, to be located within the Becamex-founded Eastern International University (EIU), aims to facilitate the adoption of industry 4.0 (i4.0) technologies in Vietnam’s manufacturing industry. It will be co-funded by Becamex and the VSIP Group.

Singapore PM Lee, during his talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Chinh on August 28, said the two countries must work even closer together to maintain Asean centrality and uphold a rules-based multilateral order.

The two countries have built strong political trust through the decades, with Singapore’s former PMs Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong having longstanding friendships with their Vietnamese [late] counterparts Vo Van Kiet and Phan Van Khai, Lee said.

Since the first VSIP was established, over a dozen more VSIPs have been set up across Vietnam, in testament to the “growth and vibrancy of our ties,” Lee said.

“I have had the privilege of continuing this close cooperation,” and this included working with several Vietnamese prime ministers to establish and strengthen the strategic partnership, he noted.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese PM said Singapore has remained one of the nation’s most important partners throughout its journey of development and integration. Chinh described the two countries’ ties as “exemplary dynamic” relations.

“Our partnership aims to make both countries the nuclei of solidarity for the shared Asean home, and to make commensurate contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.”

Vietnam and Singapore will establish annual meetings between their prime ministers as the two countries are expanding their scope of cooperation, the two sides agreed upon in Hanoi. They also agreed to explore the possibility of upgrading bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in the future.

The two leaders tasked their officials to follow up on this and report to them at the next annual prime ministers’ meeting.

Vietnam and Singapore have maintained a strategic partnership for 10 years, and diplomatic relations for 50 years.

In Singapore this February, the two sides concluded their Green-Digital Economic Partnership, paving the way for important projects in carbon credits and renewable energy.