Speech By Professor S Jayakumar, Senior Minister And Coordinating Minister For National Security, At Singapore Business Federation Eminent Leaders Lecture On "Vietnam – Partnership For Progress", 17 November 2009,
4.12 pm At The Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom
Opening Remarks By Senior Minister & Coordinating Minister For National Security Professor S Jayakumar At Singapore Business Federation Eminent Leaders Lecture On "Vietnam – Partnership For Progress" By His Excellency Nguyen Minh Triet, President of The Socialist Republic Of Vietnam, On 17 November 2009 At 11am At The Marriot Hotel Grand Ballroom
Your Excellency, President Nguyen Minh Triet,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Let me welcome all of you to the Eminent Leaders Lecture by His Excellency President Nguyen Minh Triet. Today, we are privileged to listen to President Triet speak on Vietnam's remarkable journey of growth, and how Singapore and other partners can play a role in Vietnam's development in the years ahead.
2. As ASEAN's fastest growing economy, Vietnam is a bright spot and rising star, not just in the region but also in the Asia Pacific. Its GDP is forecast to grow by an impressive 5% this year despite the global economic downturn. Its exports hit a record US$63 billion last year, buoyed by Vietnam's trade agreements with the US, Japan and UAE, and a raft of ASEAN FTAs with China, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand. We look forward to Vietnam joining the expanded Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), which will help position the TPP as a viable building block towards an eventual Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
Ladies and Gentlemen,
3. President Triet has a distinguished career in public office. Prior to his election as President in 2006, he was Party Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City, where he was known for his tough stance on crime and corruption. As Party Secretary of Song Be province from 1992 to 1997, President Triet's vision and leadership transformed Song Be, now known as Binh Duong, from a largely agricultural province into an attractive destination for foreign investment.
4. President Triet played a key role in strengthening our economic relations. He was instrumental to the success of the first Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Project (VSIP) in Binh Duong province in 1996 when he was Party Secretary of the then-Song Be province. The VSIP has since expanded to Bac Ninh province, with a fourth project in Hai Phong city. The VSIP projects are concrete symbols of our close and growing ties. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will visit Vietnam next January, during which PM Nguyen Tan Dung and PM Lee will officiate the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hai Phong project. Your Excellency, Singapore deeply appreciates your continuous support and contribution to the success of the VSIP.
5. President Triet's State Visit to Singapore at the invitation of President S R Nathan clearly underscores the strong partnership between our two countries. Our bilateral cooperation is multi-faceted, with deepening ties across a wide range of sectors from trade and education, defence, law, culture and the arts, as well as extensive people-to-people linkages. On the economic front, the Connectivity Framework Agreement signed in 2005 has served as a key platform for our bilateral economic cooperation, by providing an overarching framework to guide bilateral economic cooperation in the broad sectors of education, finance, investment, IT, trade and services, transport, urban infrastructure, and port and logistics.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
6. The high level of participation at this morning’s Lecture is testimony to the strong interest from Singapore companies and others in Vietnam. Despite the global economic crisis, Singaporean companies continue to invest in Vietnam, thus reflecting our confidence in Vietnam's future. There is scope and enthusiasm to do more. It is therefore timely for us to hear President Triet's views on how our two countries can together build an even stronger and more rewarding partnership for progress in the future.
7. On this note, it is now my privilege to invite His Excellency President Triet to deliver his address. President Triet, please.
Welocme Remarks By Mr Tony Chew, Chairman Of SBF, At At Singapore Business Federation Eminent Leaders Lecture On "Vietnam – Partnership For Progress" On 17 November 2009 (Tuesday), At The Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom
His Excellency Mr Nguyen Mint Triet, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Professor S. Jayakumar, Senior Minister of Singapore
Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Speaker of the Parliament, Singapore
His Excellency Mr Pham Gia Khiem, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Socialist of Vietnam
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
A very good morning to all.
1. On behalf of the Singapore Business Federation, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our distinguished guests, from both, Vietnam and Singapore. It is our great honor to have His Excellency Mr Nguyen Minh Triet, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, to be our Inaugural Speaker of the SBF Eminent Leaders Lecture.
2. The Singapore Business Federation is the apex business chamber representing more than 15,000 companies in Singapore. In partnership with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SBF had successfully organized the "Singapore - Vietnam Business Networking Congress" this morning, which brought together 83 senior executives from 74 Vietnam companies, and 225 Singapore business leaders from all areas of business. We hope that the networking and contacts made this morning will bring new partnerships and collaborations between our business communities.
3. Singapore's economic, trade, and business relationship with Vietnam continues to grow stronger with each passing year. In the first four months of 2009, Singapore was Vietnam's 4th largest investor, with over US$225 million dollars worth of investments, and cumulatively, Singapore investments in Vietnam reached US$17 billion as of August 2009. Singapore was also Vietnam's 5th largest trading partner in 2008 with bilateral trade amounting to S$15.6 billion.
4. As a testament of our growing business linkage, I am pleased to announce that we will be witnessing the signing of three business collaborations between Vietnam companies and Singapore-based companies later.
The Singapore entities are Port of Singapore Authority, Japan Land Limited which is a Japanese owned company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, and Credit Suisse Singapore.
5. It is with optimism and enthusiasm that we look forward to HE President Triet's Keynote Address, which would address the deep interest of our Singapore business community, in the business and economic development of Vietnam.
6. I am certain that under the leadership of HE President Triet, the economic ties and business connections between our two business communities will continue to grow from strength to strength.
7. Ladies and gentleman, once again, thank you for being with us today.
8. May I now invite Senior Minister S. Jayakumar to deliver the Opening Address.
Welcome Remark for Singapore-Vietnam Business Networking Congress by Mr Teng Theng Dar, CEO, On
17 November 2009 (Tuesday), At The Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
On behalf of Singapore Business Federation, I am honored to warmly welcome representatives of Vietnam and Singapore businesses who are participating in this Singapore-Vietnam Business Networking Congress. This networking session is an opportunity for members of the Singapore Business Federation and representatives of the Singapore business community to interact with their Vietnamese business counterparts whom hopefully could be future business partners and friends.
This networking congress has been made possible by the Singapore Business Federation with the support and assistance of SBF's counterpart national chamber in Vietnam – the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
At the bilateral level, Singapore and Vietnam enjoys strong economic cooperation that have strengthened rapidly over the last decade. The Connectivity Framework Agreement between Singapore and Vietnam provides an overarching framework to guide bilateral economic cooperation in six sectors – education and training, finance, investment, information technology and telecommunications, trade and services, and transportation.
In 2008, Singapore was Vietnam 5th largest trading partner and trade statistics indicated that total Singapore-Vietnam trade has grown from S$10.3 billion in 2005 to S$15.6 billion in 2008.
With a determined Government and committed leaders, both the public and private sectors, Vietnam has been ranked as one obvious rising star in the APEC region.
Vietnam fully supports APEC initiatives and has benefitted from various APEC capacity building programs in taking necessary steps to further liberalize its market, and facilitate growth in both trade and investments to realise the Bogor Goals – the fundamental spirit and the vision of APEC.
Vietnam has recently been identified by many businesses in the region as one of the most promising and preferred destinations for trade and investments. It is one great golden opportunity to listen to, engage in and interact with Vietnam leaders and trade delegates under one roof here in Singapore.
I hope that this Singapore-Vietnam Networking Congress will provide Vietnam and Singapore businesses a platform to network and to explore business opportunities in Vietnam. I wish the participants at this networking congress a fruitful session.
Thank you.
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