Economic cooperation constitutes an important part in the relationship between Vietnam and Singapore in 2014 – the first year of the two countries’ bilateral strategic partnership.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Nguyen Tien Minh highlighted the remarkable achievements in the two countries’ relations in the year in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency correspondents on the eve of the lunar New Year – the Year of the Goat.

In 2014, two-way trade saw a year-on-year rise of 20 percent with Singapore currently being the sixth biggest trade partner of Vietnam. Singapore invested as much as 32.7 billion USD into Vietnam, becoming the third largest foreign investor in the country after Japan and the Republic of Korea, the Ambassador said.

In the political front, the two nations increased dialogue exchanges and shared the concern about maintaining peace, security, stability and development in the region and the East Sea.

They also enhanced people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in socio-cultural affairs, education and healthcare, he said, citing the increasing numbers of Vietnamese who travel to Singapore for shopping, vacationing or studying in recent years.

He attributed these significant outcomes to the efforts of the overseas Vietnamese in Singapore , who form a young, intellectual, dynamic and creative community.

Established in January 2014, the Vietnamese Liaison Committee in Singapore is playing an active role in strengthening the bonds of Vietnamese expatriates.

On the occasion of the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet), the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore held a get-together for over 1,000 overseas Vietnamese. The participants joined a contest of making “banh chung” – the traditional cake made from glutinous rice typical of Tet.