Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong meets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday. —VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong held their second annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit and related summits.

PM Chính expressed thanks for Singapore’s practical assistance, helping Việt Nam overcome the aftermath of recent floods in the northern region, describing it as a vivid demonstration of the Việt Nam–Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the close friendship between the two nations.

Both leaders showed delight at the positive progress in bilateral ties since the upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and welcomed the signing of the Action Plan for the 2025-2030 period as a timely step to comprehensively implement the six pillars of cooperation, aiming to deepen the partnership for the practical benefits of their people.

The two PMs agreed to further enhance high-level exchanges and contacts, and to effectively implement cooperation mechanisms and agreements signed during recent visits, particularly during Party General Secretary Tô Lâm’s visit to Singapore and PM Wong’s visit to Việt Nam in March 2025. They also discussed establishing new cooperation mechanisms, including party-to-party collaboration between the Communist Party of Việt Nam and the People’s Action Party of Singapore.

PM Chính proposed finalising a memorandum of understanding on a Strategic Dialogue between the two ruling parties for signing and implementation in early 2026.

Both sides reaffirmed that economic cooperation remains a key pillar of the bilateral relationship. They noted encouraging progress in clean energy connectivity and carbon credit collaboration, and agreed to jointly develop detailed annual roadmaps for each pillar under the Framework Agreement on Economic Connectivity, while advancing the Việt Nam–Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) 2.0 model towards smarter, greener industrial parks.

PM Wong reaffirmed that Việt Nam is a vital partner of Singapore in the region, stressing that the signing of the new Action Plan would further deepen cooperation across strategic sectors. He expressed Singapore’s interest in expanding agricultural cooperation and ensuring food security, noting that Singapore is ready to import processed poultry, pork, fish and seafood from Việt Nam. He also welcomed progress toward an agreement between the two governments on rice trade to be signed at the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the Republic of Korea.

The two leaders also underscored the importance of strengthening collaboration in other key areas such as defence and security, education and training, culture and people-to-people exchanges, particularly in nurturing innovation talent. PM Chính called on Singapore to support Việt Nam in developing strategic industries, including semiconductors, renewable energy, innovation and the digital economy, and proposed closer cooperation to make science, technology and innovation a central pillar of bilateral ties. He also invited Singapore to take part in Việt Nam’s future financial centres.

The Singaporean PM affirmed the country’s continued support for Việt Nam in enhancing human resources quality, especially for strategic-level officials. He agreed with Việt Nam’s proposal on data connectivity, initially in the fields of economy, trade and population management. He said Singapore would explore the development of a data centre within VSIP to facilitate bilateral business cooperation.

On regional matters, both leaders agreed to strengthen ASEAN solidarity and give due attention to sustainable development in sub-regions, including the Mekong, through bilateral and trilateral cooperation in maritime, rail, highway and air connectivity, as well as digital linkages. They emphasised the need for close coordination to maximise synergies when Việt Nam hosts APEC and Singapore chairs ASEAN in 2027.

The two Prime Ministers reiterated their shared commitment to making the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) as a sea of peace, cooperation and development, and to working with other ASEAN members to advance an effective, substantive Code of Conduct (COC) consistent with international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On this occasion, PM Chính invited PM Wong and senior Singaporean representatives to attend the third ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) in Hà Nội in April 2026 and the Autumn Economic Forum 2025 in HCM City this November.

The meeting concluded with the two leaders witnessing the handover of the 2025-2030 Action Plan to implement the Việt Nam–Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed by the foreign ministers of the two countries. — VNA/VNS