The first Singapore - Vietnam Strategic Dialogue was co-chaired in Singapore on August 25 by Politburo member and Standing Member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat Tran Cam Tu and PAP Assistant Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing, who is also Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence.

The dialogue is the first mechanism of its kind established between the two parties. Vietnam is also the first country in Southeast Asia with a similar party-to-party dialogue mechanism with Singapore’s PAP.

The new forum is expected to provide a direct and regular channel for exchanges on Party-building experience, policymaking, governance and development, while reinforcing the political foundation of the Vietnam-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

From political trust to deeper cooperation

The new dialogue builds on rapidly expanding relations between Vietnam and Singapore. Diplomatic ties were established in 1973, while the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March 2025.

Singapore is one of Vietnam’s most important economic partners and its second-largest foreign investor, with more than 4,500 valid projects worth about US$97 billion in registered capital. The 28 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) in 17 provinces and cities have become a prominent symbol of the two countries’ economic cooperation.

Party-to-party ties have also expanded through practical cooperation, including the training and development of officials. The new dialogue adds a higher-level platform for discussing experience in leadership, governance and national development.

Technology and talent development in focus

The inaugural dialogue focuses on issues with direct relevance to the two countries’ development agendas, particularly talent development and technology cooperation.

The forum will discuss how to develop future-ready talent and build a new model for technology cooperation toward a shared innovation space.

Vietnam has also highlighted the importance of connecting technology, human-resource development and strategic leadership, with expectations that the dialogue will help turn shared understandings between the two parties into concrete programs and projects.

Another priority is continuing cooperation in training and developing strategic-level officials, an area in which the two sides have already built an institutional foundation through previous agreements on official training and study visits.

The dialogue is therefore intended to go beyond the exchange of views and help generate practical cooperation in areas where the two countries have complementary strengths and development needs.

Party official meets Singaporean PAP Chairman

Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee's Secretariat Tran Cam Tu met with Chairman of the People’s Action Party (PAP) and Minister for Education of Singapore Desmond Lee on August 24 in the island-city state.