In an online meeting with Mr. Tan See Leng, Singaporean Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister of Labour, in mid-October, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that the energy crisis is taking place around the world, especially in Europe, the US and China, showing that energy is always an important issue that many countries focus on solving.
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According to Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, in order to grow GDP by 1%, there must be at least 1.2-1.4% growth in electricity. Therefore, electricity in particular and energy in general must always be one step ahead, especially in the complicated context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Vietnam and Singapore both have commitments with the world to reduce carbon emissions by the middle of this century,” he said.
According to the Vietnamese Minister, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has been assigned by the Government to develop the electricity master plan VIII to 2030, with a vision to 2045. Accordingly, Vietnam is gradually reducing primary fuels and fossil fuels in favor of clean energy such as renewable energy, gas electricity, biomass electricity. Singapore is a developed country in the field of clean energy development, has experience and is able to help other countries in this field. Therefore, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade expressed the hope that the two sides will promote the two countries' governments to cooperate more closely towards development goals in the field of clean energy.
During the meeting, Minister Tan See Leng said that one of Singapore's concerns in cooperation with Vietnam is developing a strategy to reduce carbon emissions through clean energy such as LNG.
In the near future, Singapore will hold an International Energy Conference and at this event, Singapore will study measures to increase the ability to import renewable energy from ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.
Vietnam and Singapore have great potential for cooperation in the field of clean energy, especially natural gas energy applied in production by taking advantage of the ASEAN electricity network, from which cooperation can be gradually developed in other forms of clean energy. Currently, in order to reduce dependence on natural gas, Singapore is experimenting with importing electricity from neighboring countries. Meanwhile, Vietnam is considered the country with the fastest rate of conversion to renewable energy in the region.
"These measures will bring economic benefits to both of our countries," commented Mr. Tan See Leng.
Singapore is currently the 5th largest trading partner of Vietnam and also the 3rd largest foreign investor in Vietnam. In recent years, the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Singapore has always improved. In 2020, bilateral trade reached USD17 billion and Singapore continued to be the leading investor in Vietnam with total investment capital up to USD9 billion. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singaporean businesses continue to consider Vietnam an attractive investment destination in many industries such as finance, insurance, manufacturing and retail./.