Vietnam and Singapore strengthen ties with new comprehensive strategic partnership

The two nations' deepened cooperation will focus on key areas including security, technology, and green energy.

Vietnam and Singapore have agreed to elevate Vietnam-Singapore ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This follows the official visit of His Excellency To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to Singapore from 11 to 13 March 2025.

This move builds on the existing Strategic Partnership (2013) and Green-Digital Economic Partnership (2023), which have already brought significant benefits. The new agreement aims to further enhance political trust, address contemporary challenges, and promote peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region and the world.

Key areas of cooperation

The two leaders agreed to focus on several key areas for enhanced cooperation:

• Enhancing cooperation for peace, security, and stability: Vietnam and Singapore will boost high-level engagements, strengthen party-to-party relations, and maintain effective annual meetings between both Prime Ministers. They aim to deepen defence and security cooperation, combat transnational crimes such as cybercrimes and money laundering, and support maritime safety. Both nations will also collaborate in regional and international forums, including ASEAN’s efforts against scams.

• Reinforcing economic cooperation: Both sides will upgrade the 2023 Framework Agreement on Singapore-Viet Nam Connectivity, supporting joint business ventures like low-carbon Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs). They will strengthen food security, enhance financial sector development, strengthen air connectivity, and boost infrastructure cooperation. Legal and judicial cooperation, alongside maritime and port infrastructure development, will also be key priorities.

• Strengthening energy and green cooperation: The partnership will focus on leveraging the Green-Digital Economic Partnership (2023) to advance energy connectivity, sustainability, and digital innovation, with a shared goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Efforts include cross-border electricity trading, offshore wind power exports from Vietnam to Singapore, and building the ASEAN Power Grid to collaborate on carbon credits aligned with the Paris Agreement.

• Building capacity and connecting people: Viet Nam and Singapore will strengthen cooperation in talent development, focusing on strategic-level officials and fostering professional and student exchanges in areas such as semiconductor technology, Industry 4.0 skills, and medical research. They will deepen Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) collaboration and implement the Singapore-Viet Nam Innovation Talent Exchange Programme. Additionally, both countries aim to boost culture, arts, and sports cooperation while promoting tourism and enhancing people-to-people ties.

• Advancing digital and emerging technologies: The two nations will strengthen partnerships in digital connectivity, AI, cybersecurity, and cross-border data flows. This includes developing data sandboxes, supporting subsea cable resilience, and fostering business trust in the digital economy. Regional guidelines and frameworks such as the ASEAN Model Contractual Clauses and the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics will be promoted to drive technological advancement.

• Strengthening cooperation in International and Regional Fora: Viet Nam and Singapore will work closely to support each other in multilateral forums, particularly within ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum. They aim to promote ASEAN’s unity and central role in advancing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and its strategic plans. Both sides will align efforts between sub-regional cooperation frameworks, such as in the Mekong sub-region, and the broader ASEAN Community building process. These joint efforts seek to narrow the development gap and support comprehensive growth of ASEAN.

To carry out the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the leaders asked their Foreign Ministries to create a Plan of Action covering all areas of cooperation. They also discussed in the South China Sea, stressing ASEAN’s commitment to peace, security, and stability, following international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Both sides highlighted the importance of resolving disputes peacefully, avoiding actions that could raise tensions, and fully following the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC), while working towards a strong and effective Code of Conduct (COC).

Lead image / Ministry of Digital Development and Information Singapore (taken from PM Lawrence Wong Facebook)