Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who is in Singapore for the 12th
Shangri La Dialogue, on May 31 paid a courtesy call to the host
country’s President Tony Tan Keng Yam and met its Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong.
President Tony Tan affirmed that
Singapore attaches much importance to and highly values the role that
Vietnam plays in the region. He recalled good memories of his visit
to Vietnam in April 2012, expressing wish that the Vietnamese people
will harvest greater achievements in their national construction and
development.
The leaders expressed their delight at
the developing friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two
countries over the past years, especially when Vietnam and Singapore
are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic ties
(1973-2013) and looking towards the establishment of a strategic
partnership.
The two sides also pledged to continue
strengthening cooperation at regional and international forums for the
interests of each country’s people as well as for peace, stability,
cooperation and development in the region and the world.
Meeting with PM Lee Hsien Loong, PM Dung thanked his Singaporean
counterpart and the organisers of the 12th Shangri La Dialogue for
inviting him to deliver a keynote address at the event. He spoke highly
of the significance of the dialogue, describing it as a chance for
Vietnam to share its views on regional and international security
issues.
The two PMs said they are pleased with the
strong, rapid, dynamic and effective development of the comprehensive
cooperation between the two countries during the past time.
Singapore has always been one of Vietnam’s leading investors
and trade partners despite the gloomy global and regional economic
situations, they noted, citing that two-way trade has increased year on
year, hitting 9.6 billion USD in 2012.
Singapore
businesses now have 1,173 projects in Vietnam with a total
registered investment of 27 billion USD. In particular, the
Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) has been a success and expanded
to Vietnam ’s northern and central regions.
The
two sides confirmed that they will further promote cooperation in the
areas of defence, security, culture, education, construction and
tourism.
They also applauded relevant agencies of
both sides for completing a Joint Statement on the establishment of the
strategic partnership, which is expected to be signed during PM Lee’s
visit to Vietnam later this year.
Both sides agreed to continue working closely in the negotiation process for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
Besides, the two PMs also discussed a number of regional and
international issues of mutual concern. They agreed that ASEAN should
exert more efforts to maintain internal solidarity, while nurturing a
high political will to successfully build an ASEAN Community by 2015 and
promote its central role.
Regarding Vietnam ’s
message to the 12 th Shangri La Dialogue, PM Dung shared the main
contents of his speech at the dialogue, which calls upon all countries
to respect international law and together build strategic trust for
peace and prosperity of the whole Asia-Pacific region.
Both the Singaporean President and Prime Minister lauded and agreed
with Vietnam’s viewpoint, which they said is suitable and crucial to the
current general situation in the region, practically contributing to an
Asia-Pacific region of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
Concerning the East Sea issue, the Singaporean
leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring peace, stability, maritime
security and safety in the East Sea, while sharing the same opinion that
all relevant parties should act with restraint and settle all disputes
peacefully in accordance with international law and the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), the Declaration
on Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and ASEAN’s Six-Point
Principles on the East Sea issue, looking towards the early formation of
a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
On the
occasion, PM Dung and his Singaporean counterpart witnessed the granting
of a supplementary licence of the Dung Quat Thermal Power Plant project
in Vietnam’s central Quang Ngai province to Singapore’s Sembcorp
Group.
With total investment of around 2 billion
USD, the plant has a capacity of 1,200 MW and is being constructed in
the Dung Quat Economic Zone. This is the second project funded by
Sembcorp in Quang Ngai.-VNA