PM Nguyen Tan Dung (R) and his visiting Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Long

The US$1 billion Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Hai Phong broke ground in the northern city Wednesday.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long said the three industrial parks symbolized the strong and successful cooperation between the two countries.

Lee and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung witnessed the signing of cooperation minutes between VISP Hai Phong and 11 investors. Hai Phong City is home to Hai Phong Port, northern Vietnam’s largest seaport.

On Tuesday, firms from the two countries, including Singaporean giant property CapitaLand, also signed cooperation deals.

Singapore property developer CapitaLand will cooperate with a Vietnamese developer to build four residential towers in Ha Dong District, Hanoi, at an estimated cost of US$170 million, AFP reported.

Another Singaporean real estate firm, Keppel Land, signed a joint venture agreement to develop villas on the Saigon River in southern Ho Chi Minh City, the news source quoted Keppel Land as saying.

On the same day, the State Bank of Vietnam licensed Singaporean bank group DBS the rights to establish a branch in Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaking at the meeting with Lee on his first of four days in Vietnam, Dung hailed Singapore as one of Vietnam’s leading investors and trade partners.

Singapore was the eighth-largest provider of registered foreign direct investment in Vietnam as of late last November.

During his third official visit to Vietnam since 2000, Lee also met with Party Chief Nong Duc Manh.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies