(VOVworld) - Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Hai Hau said the visit to Vietnam from September 23-26 by Senior Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong to Vietnam will boost bilateral strategic partnership. The visit, made at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, will be the highest-level by a Singaporean leader this year, following the 2012 and 2013 visits by President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He said that over the past three years, the Vietnam–Singapore relationship has progressed in every aspect, as demonstrated by the increasing number of all-level visits and the effective cooperation mechanisms in the fields of diplomacy, security and defense. Two-way trade has enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 12.7 percent, reaching 13.9 billion USD last year. Singapore is currently Vietnam’s third largest trade partner out of the ASEAN member states. At regional and global forums, both countries are contributing to the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 and the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).