Raising ties with Singapore and Malaysia to new levels
During talks between President Truong Tan Sang and leaders from Singapore and Malaysia, all sides agreed that it is the appropriate time bilateral relations between the countries were brought to a deeper, more reliable and comprehensive level in all fields.
State President Truong Tan Sang, his wife and entourage arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on September 30, successfully concluding official visits to Singapore and Malaysia. The visits created a turning point to raise the friendship and cooperative relationships between Vietnam and the two countries to a higher level.
These were the first overseas visits by President Sang since the National Assembly elected him State leader. Along with the first visits by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to Laos, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Indonesia and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung to Cambodia, the President's visits aimed to affirm Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching great importance to strengthening friendship and cooperative relations with regional and ASEAN countries.
The five-day visit to Singapore and Malaysia achieved some important results. Talks among leaders affirmed that it is the right time to raise relations to a new level and strengthen them to become more reliable and comprehensive in all fields for the mutual benefit of the concerned nations, and in line with fine political relations, potential and expectations of the ASEAN Community.
In Singapore, the leaders agreed to accelerate the implementation of the framework agreement on Vietnam-Singapore connectivity in a number of fields and expand the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP), which have become a symbol of successful economic cooperation between the two nations. During the visit, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing the fifth Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Quang Ngai.
In Malaysia, the two sides agreed to speed up negotiations on a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in preventing and combating trans-national crime as well as an agreement on joint patrols at sea. They also agreed to increase contact and regular meetings between the two countries.
The Singaporean and Malaysian leaders agreed with Vietnam’s proposals to foster cooperation in various fields and put forward relevant suggestions for expanding cooperation in finance, banking, information technology, aviation, telecommunications, oil and gas. They also reached agreements on regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Vinh said the Singaporean and Malaysian leaders agreed to Vietnam’s stance on ensuring peace, stability, maritime safety and security in the East Sea; to settle disputes related to the East Sea based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; to fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and to develop a Code of Conduct (COC) for Parties in the East Sea.
President Sang’s visits to Singapore and Malaysia were successful, contributing to strengthening fine relations between Vietnam and the two neighbouring countries and providing an impetus for developing more reliable, deeper and comprehensive ties of friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and regional countries.