Vietnam Party chief leaves for visits to Indonesia, ASEAN Secretariat, Singapore

Party chief To Lam, his spouse Ngo Phuong Ly, and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam left Hanoi on Sunday morning for a state visit to Indonesia, an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat based in this country, and an official visit to Singapore.

The trip, from March 9 to 13, is made at the invitations of Indonesian President and President of the Great Indonesia Movement Party Prabowo Subianto, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, and Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of its People's Action Party (PAP) Lawrence Wong.

The Party General Secretary was accompanied by senior officials including General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member and Minister of National Defence; Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics; Nguyen Van Nen, Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee; General Luong Tam Quang, Politburo member and Minister of Public Security.

Others include Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Party Central Committee (PCC) and Chief of its Office; Tran Luu Quang, Secretary of the PCC and head of its Commission for Policies and Strategies; Bui Thanh Son, PCC member, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Nguyen Duc Hai, PCC member, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly.

The trip reaffirms Vietnam's consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, development, and multilateralization and diversification of international relations.

It also underscores the importance the Vietnamese Party and State attach to relations with neighbouring countries, including two key partners Indonesia and Singapore, while highlighting Vietnam's proactive, responsible, and innovative spirit, with practical contributions toward realizing ASEAN’s shared aspirations for the future, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Indonesia is currently Vietnam's second largest trading partner in ASEAN, with bilateral trade reaching $16.7 billion in 2024, up 21.6% compared to 2023. The two countries aim to bring the tally to $18 billion in 2028.

Singapore is Vietnam's fourth largest trading partner in ASEAN and Vietnam's 14th trading partner in the world. In 2024, two-way trade turnover will reach $10.3 billion, up 14.7% year-on-year.

The island country is currently the largest ASEAN investor in Vietnam, ranking second out of 147 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 3,915 licensed projects that remain valid and a total registered capital of over $83 billion.