This morning, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife warmly welcomed General Secretary, President To Lam and his wife upon their arrival for the state visit to Singapore.

The two leaders then participated in a flag-raising ceremony and introduced members of their respective high-level delegations. During the visit, General Secretary, President To Lam is scheduled to hold talks and meetings with Singaporean leaders and deliver a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a leading regional security forum.

General Secretary, President To Lam and Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam review the honor guard. *Photo: TTXVN*

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong stated that a key focus of the visit is to promote deeper and more substantive cooperation in science-technology, innovation, and digital transformation between Vietnam and Singapore.

Both sides can increase cooperation in artificial intelligence, big data, semiconductor technology, smart cities, digital economy, digital government, and green transformation. These are all strategically significant areas for Vietnam's long-term development.

Economically, both sides expect to further boost cooperation in investment, trade, finance, and supply chain connectivity. Singapore excels in technology, finance, logistics, and modern governance, while Vietnam offers a dynamic market, abundant human resources, and high growth rates. This complementarity creates significant room for both countries to develop together in the new phase.

According to Deputy Minister Cuong, the invitation for General Secretary, President To Lam to deliver the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the forum's most important speech, demonstrates the international community's respect and high appreciation for Vietnam's increasing role, standing, and prestige, as well as the general secretary, president's role and prestige.

This also reflects other countries' interest in Vietnam's independent, self-reliant, peaceful, cooperative, and developmental foreign policy.

Vietnam and Singapore established diplomatic relations in 1973, upgrading to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2025.

The most notable highlight in Vietnam-Singapore relations is economic, trade, and investment cooperation. Singapore is currently one of Vietnam's leading economic partners and the second-largest investor in Vietnam, with over 4,500 active projects and a total registered capital of nearly 97 billion USD.

A typical success symbol in bilateral cooperation is the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) system. From the first VSIP, the VSIP network has now expanded to many localities nationwide.

Ngoc Anh