The ceremony was attended by Chairman of HUFO Mr. Huynh Minh Thien, Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Trade and Industry and Chairman of HVSFA Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa and representative from the HCMC Department of External Relations Mr. Pham Dut Diem. On the Singaporean side, Consul General of Singapore in HCMC Ms. Leow Siu Lin, Vice-Chairman of Singapore Business Group in HCMC Dixon Oh and representatives from the Singaporean Consulate General and business associations also attended the event.

Addressing the event, Chairman of HVSFA Nguyen Ngoc Hoa expressed his delight over the fruitful Vietnam - Singapore cooperative relations in various fields, especially in economy, trade and investment. Two-way trade rose 8.9% on year to US$21.6 billion in 2017. Over 18,000 Vietnamese officials have joined training courses in Singapore under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP).

On this occasion, HUFO and HVSFA would like to receive further cooperation from the Singaporean Consulate General in HCMC to enhance people-to-people exchange and collaboration in culture, sports and tourism.

For her part, Consul General of Singapore in HCMC Ms. Leow Siu Lin showed her optimism about the continuous development in economic cooperation between the two countries. The Framework Agreement on Vietnam - Singapore Connectivity signed in 2005 has been an effective foundation for strengthening the economic cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore. Vietnam is an attractive investment destination for Singaporean businesses for its potential and solid foundation for development, a young, skilled labour force. Singaporean businesses in Vietnam have paid more attention to their social responsibilities by developing and conducting various meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. 

Singaporean NGOs have also played active roles in developing the relations between the two countries through various humanitarian projects such as the Singapore International Foundation (SIF)’s signature Words on Wheels mobile library programme to children in HCMC, many groups of Singaporean students coming to Vietnam on their holidays to do social/ charity works, etc.

The Consul also mentioned the success of a children’s painting contest held by the Singaporean Consulate General in HCMC and HVSFA in celebration of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam - Singapore diplomatic ties. A set of commemorative postage stamps with the image of award-winning paintings was issued featuring the 45th relations between the two countries.

On this occasion, HVSAF granted 26 certificates of merit to TED Saigon’s teams and individuals for their achievements in Asia-Pacific Arts Festival (AFAP) recently held in Singapore.

TTDN