Hanoi (VNA) – The VietnameseGovernment is willing to listen to opinions from Singaporean businesses andwishes they would do long-term business in the country, Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc has said.

Receiving a delegation of 36 Singaporean businesses in Hanoi on July 15, PMPhuc spoke highly of Singaporean firms’ business in Vietnam during January-Junedespite the global economy’s turbulences.

The Vietnamese Government has made efforts to keep political and macro-economicstability, create transparent legal institutions in accordance withinternational commitments and laws, he said.

He laid stress on the country’s push for regional and international integrationwith the formation of various economic and trade cooperation frameworks likethe Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Vietnam has consistently pursued an economic integration policy with the focusplaced on international economic integration, which means Singaporeanenterprises will have opportunities to reach a large number of markets thatVietnam has set up partnership with, he highlighted.

He took the occasion to thank the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and theEnterprise Singapore (ESG) for organising the Vietnam-Singapore Business Forumin April, helping develop bilateral economic cooperation into a more practicalmanner.

He said he witnessed the signing of cooperative documents worth some 10 billionUSD at the forum.

SBF Chairman Teo Siong Seng, for his part, expressed his delight to lead theSingaporean firms to visit Vietnam and seek investment opportunities. He saidthe Singaporean firms will continue their contributions to the robust economicgrowth in Vietnam while tightening the bilateral collaboration.

Meanwhile, a representative from ESG thanked the Vietnamese Government andcompetent agencies and authorities for supporting Singaporean businesses in thepast time, hoping to promote cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of smarturban area development, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and startup andinnovation.

Welcoming the recommendations, PM Phuc said that Singaporean firms have manyinvestment opportunities in Vietnam thanks to the sound strategic partnershipbetween the two nations, as well as good mechanisms to connect the twoeconomies in the past 14 years with the Vietnam-Singapore industrial parkdescribed as a standout cooperation model.

He expressed his hope that the Singaporean firms will expand investment in thefields of their strengths like infrastructure development, logistics, finance& banking, IT, electronics, education, healthcare, tourism, maritimeindustry, and equitization of state-owned companies, among others.

Airport investment is attractive, especially as the Vietnamese aviation sectoris enjoying strong growth, he suggested.

PM Phuc expected both sides work together to branch out smart urban areamodels, while hailing the Singaporean sides’ engagement in developing Da Nangcity, which has the same size as Singapore.-VNA