Singapore to deepen cooperation with Vietnam in food security, governance

SINGAPORE – Singapore and Vietnam will deepen cooperation in areas such as supply chain resilience, agricultural trade and higher education, building on a partnership of more than five decades.

Both countries exchanged several agreements on May 29, witnessed by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Vietnamese President To Lam, who is in Singapore for a four-day state visit.

The Republic will be a friend and reliable partner to Vietnam in its new era of growth, said President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on May 29.

Both countries have similar outlooks on prioritising human capital, embracing openness to the world, and committing to continued renewal, he said at a state banquet he hosted for Mr Lam at the Raffles Hotel Jubilee Hall.

These shared instincts have created a natural basis for partnership – one grounded in pragmatism, mutual respect, and a common stake in a stable, open and prosperous South-east Asia and global economy, he added.

“We meet at a time when the world is being reshaped. For countries like Singapore and Vietnam, these shifts are not abstract. They affect our livelihoods, our security, and the prospects for our next generation,” said Mr Tharman.

“It matters, therefore, that Singapore and Vietnam both share similar strategic outlooks.”

PM Wong and Mr Lam had witnessed in the morning the exchange of several agreements to deepen bilateral cooperation across governance, law and industry.

They included an agreement on the Singapore-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue to establish a regular high-level forum for senior political leaders and officials from both sides to discuss governance, public administration and transformation.

The inaugural dialogue will take place in Singapore in August.

Singapore and Vietnam also set up a task force for agri-food trade between the two countries, meant to strengthen cooperation on food security and safety, and increase collaboration in the sector.

It will also address existing and emerging areas affecting food trade.

Both countries also issued a joint statement on supply chain resilience amid the situation in the Middle East that reaffirmed their shared commitment to upholding regional stability, strengthening economic resilience, and promoting a global order based on international law.

Mr Tharman said during his toast speech at the lunch that both countries are committed to upholding ASEAN centrality, and supporting rules-based multilateralism in a more volatile and uncertain world.

Vietnam will chair the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping in 2027 in the same year that Singapore will be ASEAN chair, and this presents opportunities for both sides to work together to strengthen regional resilience, he added.

“I am confident that the Singapore-Vietnam partnership will continue to flourish, and I hope President Lam will continue to be a strong advocate for our bilateral partnership,” he said.

Mr Lam, speaking in Vietnamese, said the bond between both countries “has grown ever closer, political trust ever deeper, and our cooperation ever broader, bilaterally and multilaterally”.

The head of state, who is on his first state visit here since assuming the role in April 2026, said that he had a deep impression of Singapore from previous visits and a “profound admiration”.

Amid a turbulent 2026, Singapore stands out as a “calm harbour of stability” because of its strong economic foundation, agile governance and an impressive ability to adapt swiftly to emerging trends.

“Both our countries stand as vivid proof that true strength lies not in size, but in a development-enabling mindset forged and thrived through challenges,” he added.

Mr Tharman said that under Mr Lam’s leadership and vision of a “new era of national rise”, Vietnam has become one of the world’s most dynamic economies.

He said both sides should enhance air connectivity to boost trade flows and enhance supply chain resilience, and also deepen cooperation in new areas such as renewable energy, carbon credits, subsea cable connectivity, agri-food, advanced manufacturing and the digital economy.

“We have achieved much together. But we will do more with each other,” said Mr Tharman.

He noted that economic cooperation is a key pillar in the bilateral relationship, anchored by the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs), an initiative that will mark its 30th anniversary in 2026.

There are now 22 such industrial parks across 15 provinces in Vietnam, which create good jobs and attract high-value investments, said Mr Tharman.

Both sides also cooperate closely on human capital development. Vietnam is the top partner of Singapore’s cooperation programme, with more than 22,000 Vietnamese participants over the last three decades, he said.

In addition, citizens from both countries also connect through everyday life, work, study and culture. More than 25,000 Vietnamese live, work and study in Singapore, and many Singaporeans also travel to Vietnam, he said.

The leaders of both countries have made deliberate choices in each generation to invest in the friendship, said Mr Tharman, noting that Singapore and Vietnam had elevated ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Mr Lam’s official visit in March 2025 in his capacity as general secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party.

This is the first such partnership Singapore forged with an ASEAN member, said Mr Tharman.

As the guests prepared to tuck into a meal of Vietnamese and Singaporean flavours with dishes such as Vietnamese lotus root salad and pandan flan, he added: “I’m tempted to suggest that we explore the possibility of a Hokkien pho, which could integrate the rice noodles and fresh herbs of Vietnamese pho with the seafood stock and prawn and squid of Hokkien mee.”

In the morning, Mr Lam received a ceremonial welcome at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He later called on Mr Tharman and met PM Wong.

Besides the agreement on the Singapore-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue, other bilateral agreements exchanged were a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a specialised international commercial court within the Vietnam International Financial Centre, and another to establish the Vietnam Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre within the VSIP ecosystem.

Separately, at the Vietnam-Singapore Tech Connect Forum held at the Raffles City Convention Centre on May 29, Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng spoke about three concrete areas that Singapore and Vietnam can work together on.

These areas are smart and sustainable advanced manufacturing, start-up ecosystems, and talent exchange.

The agreement exchanged by A*STAR Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre and Vietnam’s Becamex IDC to establish the Vietnam Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre is one example of how to further this, he said.

The centre will provide a platform for companies in Vietnam to pilot and deploy advanced manufacturing solutions in real-world industrial settings, turning research into tangible outcomes for industry, he said.