Singapore, Vietnam further economic collaboration

Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on Monday inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further trade and economic relations between the two countries during President of Vietnam Tran Dai Quang's visit to Singapore.

SBF and VCCI pledged to facilitate trade and investment, as well as mutual co-operation among the member companies and promote the exchange of economic and trade missions between the two countries, among others.

The MoU was signed at Singapore Vietnam Business Forum, during which the Vietnamese president delivered keynote speech, and Vietnamese officials also addressed the audience in a dialogue session, sharing the country's latest investment climate and plans.

At the forum, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran noted that there continues to be great potential for Singapore and Vietnam to build on the current trade and investment relations, and enhance economic cooperation, especially in the manufacturing, consumer services, and urban solutions sectors.

Vietnam's economy has been achieving strong and consistent growth, with GDP growing 6.7 percent in 2015. "With its robust growth, Vietnam is well poised to continue developing as one of ASEAN's most dynamic and promising economies. We strongly encourage Singapore businesses to look to Vietnam as an attractive and compelling market for opportunities to take their business to the next level," said Chairman of SBF Teo Siong Seng.

According to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the city state was the third largest foreign investor in Vietnam with registered cumulative investments of 38.1 billion U.S. dollars in 1,663 projects last year. Bilateral trade between Singapore and Vietnam in 2015 grew 10.6 percent to reach 21.6 billion Singapore dollars (15.9 billion U.S. dollars). Endit