Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem will make an official visit to Singapore on May 20-21.

The visit will be made at the invitation of the Singaporean Foreign Minister in the context of friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries, which has developed strongly in many fields.

Singapore is currently Vietnam’s leading economic and investment partner, with two-way trade turnover between the two countries reaching 9.8 billion USD in 2007.

Singapore was one of first four Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries that sent delegations to visit Vietnam to investigate its investment market in the 1990s.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Singaporean investors have registered a capital investment of 10.7 billion USD through 543 projects, shooting Singapore to the top of ASEAN investors in the country and making it the second top foreign investor from 81 countries and territories around the world.

The establishment of the Vietnam-Singapore industrial park (VSIP) ten years ago was considered a landmark in investment by Singaporean businesses. The park has so far attracted 2 billion USD in registered capital and employed 75,000 workers.

Recent moves made between the two countries, including the establishment of the Vietnam-Singapore Cooperation Committee in 1993 and the Vietnam-Singapore Joint Management Board for Investment, have helped support achievements and progress in bilateral cooperation.

This year the two countries celebrate the 35 th anniversary of diplomatic ties with a State-level visit to Vietnam by Singaporean President S.R.Nathan in February and a working visit to Singapore by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong in March.

During the visits, the two sides plan to sign cooperation agreements to help develop their economic cooperation, including an agreement on scientific and technological cooperation.

They also plan to sign Mutual Recognition Agreements on farm produce, information exchange between trade-related agencies to help facilitate export and import activities and tackle the excess of imports over exports in Vietnam .

While in Singapore, Deputy PM Khiem is scheduled to discuss measures to boost the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

The Deputy PM will meet Singaporean President S.R.Nathan, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Minster George Yeo, and attend a Vietnamese festival.-