Singaporean Ambassador to visit Can Tho

Secretary Le Quang Manh presents a gift to Ambassador Jaya Ratnam after the meeting

On 24 November 2022, Mr. Jaya Ratnam, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to Vietnam paid a courtesy call on Can Tho City leaders. Mr. Le Quang Manh, Secretary of the City Party Committee hosted the meeting with the Singaporean diplomat.

Mr. Le Quang Manh expressed his appreciation to the Singaporean Ambassador for his support in the Vinh Thanh industrial park project (VSIP Can Tho), and the project was granted with investment policy of phase 1 by the Prime Minister of Vietnam on 17 October 2022. The two sides expected this project would promote the City to become a food processing and distribution center, contributing to the local socio-economic development as well as the infrastructure development of the Mekong Delta region.

The Secretary hoped to collaborate with the Embassy and Consulate General of Singapore to organize the ground-breaking ceremony for Vinh Thanh industrial park project (VSIP Can Tho) in 2023. The event would be a milestone to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership establishment of Vietnam - Singapore next year.

Over the past 50 years, the relationship between Vietnam and Singapore has been constantly developing, especially in terms of economic cooperation. Singapore is currently the second largest investor in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of over 67.5 billion USD, and is the country with the highest total annual investment capital in Vietnam from 2020 to now. Even in the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade between the two nations still grew positively, reaching $8.3 billion in 2021, up over 23% compared to the previous year. In the first 10 months of 2022, Singapore's investment capital was 5.34 billion USD, accounting for 23.8% of total investment in Vietnam. After President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to Singapore in February 2022 and Singapore President's visit to Vietnam in October 2022, the cooperation would develop even more strongly.

By the end of October 2022, Can Tho City has 13 projects with direct investment capital from Singapore, with a total registered investment capital of about 287.05 million USD. Currently, Singapore ranks first in terms of the number of projects and second in terms of total registered investment capital in Can Tho City. However, compared with the investment capacity of Singaporean businesses and the potential of the City, this investment can continue to expand further in many fields. Therefore, last October, Can Tho City organized a delegation to Singapore to meet with large enterprises and corporations to seek cooperation opportunities. The City's departments and agencies have signed MoUs of cooperation with a number of Singaporean partners, such as CPG Corporation and Ingrid International. Previously, in 2019, Can Tho signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and Sakae Holdings on investment and trade promotion.

The Ambassador shared his delight in visiting Can Tho and hailed the Secretary for the beauty and potentials of the City. He suggested to have an investment promotion event combined with the ground-breaking ceremony of VSIP Can Tho in 2023 for investors from Singapore as well as Singapore-based investors. The diplomat also emphasized on the necessity of having a direct flight from Can Tho to Singapore, as this was the shortest route to the country. In response, Mr. Le Quang Manh said it was expected that direct flights connecting Can Tho and Singapore would be opened in the first quarter of 2023; this would create favourable conditions not only for tourism but also for trade and logistics.