Speech by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the State Banquet hosted by HE Truong Tan Sang, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Your Excellency President Truong Tan Sang
and Madam Mai Thi Hanh

Excellencies

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

        I thank His Excellency President Truong Tan Sang for his very kind and gracious remarks about Singapore. It is indeed a great pleasure for me and my delegation to revisit your country, renowned for its timeless charm. Your Excellency made Singapore the first stop of your introductory State Visit to the ASEAN countries and was the first foreign guest I received after taking office as President of Singapore. During that visit, Your Excellency extended an invitation for me and my wife to visit Vietnam. I am happy to be here in Hanoi for my first overseas State Visit. This visit is indeed symbolic and demonstrates the strengthening bilateral relations and friendly ties between our two countries. I am also happy to see the tremendous developments Vietnam has made since my last official visit to Vietnam in November 1996, when I was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence.

        Our bilateral economic relations remain strong. Bilateral trade in the last decade has increased four-fold to reach US$11.8 billion last year. Singapore continues to be one of the top foreign investors in Vietnam with cumulative investments of US$24 billion. Tomorrow evening, I will leave Hanoi for Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong. I recall visiting the first Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Binh Duong not long after its groundbreaking in 1996. Today, there are already three established VSIPs, with a fourth and fifth VSIP being developed in Hai Phong City and Quang Ngai province respectively. These projects symbolise our excellent partnership based on trust and mutual interests and benefits, and are testament to Singapore’s confidence in Vietnam’s future.

        The Connectivity Framework Agreement, currently in its eighth year, underpins our strong economic cooperation. It has provided an overarching framework to increase cooperation across the six key sectors of education and training, finance, information technology and telecommunications, investment, trade and services, as well as transportation. As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow, we look forward to exploring more opportunities for further collaborations.

Your Excellency,

        Apart from economic cooperation, our bilateral relations have also grown to become more multi-faceted. They have expanded into new areas such as defence, education and training. I was told before my trip to Vietnam that with effect from June this year, Silkair will commence three weekly flights to Hanoi, bringing the total number of weekly flights between Singapore and Vietnam to 111. This reflects the growing people-to-people exchanges between our two countries. There is also a healthy level of interaction at the officials-level. Singapore has provided courses in diverse fields for over 13,000 Vietnamese officials under the Singapore Cooperation Programme and the Initiative for ASEAN Integration, and we will continue to look for opportunities to enhance our interactions in these areas.

        Beyond our excellent bilateral ties, we also work closely together as ASEAN partners. In this regard, we look forward to working with Vietnam towards our common goal of achieving an ASEAN Community by 2015. As we celebrate the upcoming 40^th anniversary of our bilateral relations next year, I am confident that our ties will continue to grow from strength to strength. Let us continue with our strong partnership to advance our common regional interests for the betterment of our peoples and the region.

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

        May I now invite all of you to rise and join me in a toast:

·         to the good health and success of His Excellency President Truong Tan Sang and Madam Hanh

·         to the peace, progress and prosperity of the people of Vietnam; and

·         to the enduring friendship between Singapore and Vietnam.