Speech by Ambassador Ng Teck Hean at the reception to celebrate the 49th National Day of the Republic of Singapore (Melia Hanoi, 1st August 2014)

Your Excellencies

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

              Welcome and thank you for celebrating Singapore’s 49^th National Day with us this evening.  I am delighted to welcome His Excellency Bui Quang Vinh, Minister for Planning and Investment, as Guest of Honour at our reception.  I want to acknowledge the attendance of a number of Vice Ministers from various Ministries, the Deputy Chief of General Staff (of the Vietnam’s People’s Army), provincial leaders from Nghe An, Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ngai as well as representatives from Hanoi, Haiphong and Ha Tinh.  I also wish to thank my colleague, First Secretary Tng Shuqi, for her wonderful performance.  The song “Home” is a popular national song and is particularly meaningful to Singaporeans who are living abroad and feeling homesick.

2            Singapore’s National Day is a date close to the hearts of many Singaporeans.  On this special day, Singaporeans remember the contributions and hard work of the previous generations and celebrate Singapore’s survival and progress against all odds.  And on this birthday, Singaporeans all across the world reaffirm our love for our country.

3            Singapore will celebrate 50 years of independence next year.  We have come a long way since 1965.  As a small country with no natural resources and a hinterland, many people did not believe in 1965 that Singapore could survive, let alone prosper.   All Singaporeans are taught from young that no one owes us a living and that we must always maintain our relevance so that our friends, partners and others will have an interest in our continued survival and prosperity.

4            At the regional level, we are mindful of the need to maintain a stable, peaceful, and prosperous Southeast Asia.  A strong, cohesive, and autonomous ASEAN is useful to manage the inherent complexities of the evolving Asia-Pacific order.  ASEAN Member States have hence been working to promote a stronger regional identity and cooperation in order to create an inclusive and outward-looking ASEAN Community by 2015.  We know that Singapore’s continued success depends on friends and partners we can count on.

5            Vietnam is one such partner in ASEAN.  Last September, on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of diplomatic relations and during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Vietnam, the two countries elevated our bilateral relations to that of a Strategic Partnership.  This was a milestone in our bilateral relationship, and a commitment to continue to work together bilaterally as well as regionally, and in a wide range of areas, such as education, training, finance, and defence.

6            Vietnam-Singapore relations are excellent in many areas – political, economic, social and people-to-people ties.  We have stepped up the tempo of high-level bilateral exchanges.  A number of senior Vietnamese leaders have visited Singapore on various programmes including the S R Nathan Fellowship and the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship Programme, and participated in numerous study visits.  Following the visit by Prime Minister Lee in September last year, a number of Singapore Ministers have also visited Vietnam.

7            These high-level visits build on a broader base of interactions and mutual understanding between both our peoples.  One such contributor to people-to-people ties is the many educational exchanges, be it through scholarships for Vietnamese students or with the various technical assistance programmes, such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme which has conducted training courses for more than 14,000 Vietnamese government and party officials to date.

8            Our economic ties are also excellent.  Singapore remains the top three foreign investors in Vietnam with a cumulative investment of US$30.5 billion and a two-way trade amounting to US$13.1 billion.  Singaporean companies such as Sembcorp, Capitaland, Keppel Land, and Mapletree have been operating in Vietnam for many years, and continue to create jobs for Vietnamese people while helping Vietnam to shape its urban and industrial landscapes.

9            The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs), in Binh Duong, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, and Quang Ngai, are iconic flagship projects endorsed by both Governments.  VSIP’s strong brand name has been both useful to Vietnam’s efforts to attract foreign investments, as well as to serve as a reassuring presence for many Singaporean and foreign firms based in Vietnam.  There are now five VSIPs across Vietnam with more than 140,000 jobs created.  This was why the recent attacks by protestors at the VSIPs I and II in Binh Duong, was cause for serious concern.  It is important for the Vietnamese government to provide a safe and stable investment climate that will reassure foreign investors, and to implement policies that create the best conditions for them to operate in Vietnam.

10          As a key investor in Vietnam and as a Strategic Partner, Singapore will continue to work with Vietnam to consolidate and strengthen our bilateral cooperation in various sectors, further enhance people-to-people ties, and work towards the full realisation of the ASEAN Community in the coming years.  Singapore looks forward to continuing our strong cooperation with Vietnam, and taking our bilateral relationship to greater heights.

11          May I now invite all of you to join me in a toast:

              to the continued success and prosperity of Vietnam and Singapore;

              to the good health of the leaders of Vietnam and Singapore;

              to many more years of fruitful cooperation between Vietnam and

              Singapore; and

              to the good health of H.E. Minister Bùi Quang Vinh and everyone

              present this evening.

12          Thank you.

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