As expected, Vietnam and Singapore yesterday upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), pledging an expansion and deepening of cooperation along a broad front.
The upgrade was officially announced yesterday by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and To Lam, the chief of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), who is currently on a three-day visit to the city-state, the first visit by a CPV general secretary since 2012.
Speaking to the press, Wong said that the upgrade “reflects the high level of trust between Singapore and Vietnam, the good work that we have done together, and the potential to do even more.” He added, “The CSP will spur innovation-driven and green growth in our two countries. It will put in place the building blocks for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement and the ASEAN Power Grid, both of which will strengthen the resilience of our region.”
According to a joint statement released following the upgrade, Lam and Wong “discussed cooperation in undersea cable development, digital connectivity, and cross-border data flows,” according to Reuters.
They also witnessed the signing of six agreements, including MoUs on cross-border data flows, combating transnational crime, and promoting payment connectivity between the two countries.
The joint statement also reiterated ASEAN’s position on the South China Sea and “reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the area.”
Prior to visiting Singapore, Lam travelled to Indonesia, where he and President Prabowo Subianto announced a similar upgrade on March 10.
As important as the Indonesian upgrade itself was the announcement, which I mostly overlooked in my coverage of the issue earlier this week, that the two sides were ready to ratify an agreement on the demarcation of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the South China Sea. Prabowo told the press that this could take place during a possible visit to Hanoi next month. Indonesia and Vietnam have overlapping EEZ claims in the waters surrounding the Natuna Islands, which have created periodic frictions in the relationship, particularly regarding illegal fishing operations by fishing boats from the two nations. The two countries finalized the agreement in late 2022, after 12 years of complex negotiations.
“I will make a visit to Vietnam in the near future. I hope that we can sign the implementing agreement on our [EEZ] economic zones,” Prabowo said, according to the Jakarta Globe. “We weren’t been able to resolve this treaty for many years.”
This is a welcome step forward for Southeast Asian neighbors whose unresolved clashing claims in the South China Sea have complicated their ability to present a common front of opposition to China’s own expansive claims. These transgress in a significant way on those of Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei – and although it does not view itself as a formal claimant – Indonesia.
Singapore has become the 12th nation with which Vietnam has a CSP, and the third in Southeast Asia – part of a rapid series of promotions that has also involved New Zealand (February 2025), Malaysia (November 2024), France (October 2024), Australia (March 2024), Japan (November 2023), the United States (September 2023), and South Korea (December 2022). Conversely, Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian nation to establish such a partnership with Singapore.