SINGAPORE – Singapore and Vietnam will deepen exchanges and training between their government officials, and also expand technology cooperation.
This was formalised on the sidelines of the first Singapore-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue on Aug 25, when the two countries exchanged an agreement on study visits for senior Vietnamese officials and released a joint statement on technology connectivity strategy.
Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing, who co-chairs the dialogue with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Cam Tu, said the two nations established the new high-level forum because strong bilateral relations have provided the foundations for the South-east Asian neighbours to look ahead together.
Addressing the dialogue’s participants at the Conrad Singapore Marina Bay Hotel, Chan said Singapore and Vietnam share a warm and longstanding friendship because successive generations of leaders invested in strengthening ties and building mutual trust.
Both sides want the next generation of their leaders to also build relationships, and the new platform is where they can exchange perspectives on emerging challenges and identify areas where they can work together, he added.
“Many of the opportunities we discuss today will take time to materialise,” said Chan, who is also minister-in-charge of the Public Service. “The leaders in this room, and those who follow us, will need to continue working together.”
The strategic dialogue was established during a state visit here by Vietnamese President To Lam in May, and comes after the two nations elevated diplomatic ties in 2025 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
The CSP – a wide-ranging pact to deepen cooperation in security and defence as well as emerging areas such as renewable energy and the digital economy – is Singapore’s first with an ASEAN member state.
Tu, who is a permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) Central Committee Secretariat, said the dialogue is Vietnam’s first with a foreign partner, and reflects the increasingly deep level of political trust and the importance of the relationship between the two countries.
S’pore seeks to develop ‘pi-shaped’ leaders
Addressing the participants, Chan said Singapore’s view is that the quality and capability of governments will increasingly distinguish successful nations from the rest.
This is as countries now operate in a more complex environment where many of the conditions that have helped their economies to grow are weakening, while the boundaries between economic policy, technology policy, and national security are blurring.
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