Vietnam and Singapore agree to enhance cooperation on subsea cables

Vietnam and Singapore have agreed upon improving cooperation subsea cables, finance, and energy, making a notable improvement in their relationship. The agreement was disclosed during a visit by its Communist PartyChief To Lam to the city-state. After Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore has become the third Southeast Asian Nation to build a ‘strategic comprehensive relationship’ with Vietnam.

During the visit, the two countries exchanged six agreements and discussed undersea cable development, digital connectivity, and cross-border data flows. Southeast Asia being a major hub for global internet cables, countries in this region are expanding their networks to support AI services and data centers. 10 new submarine cables are to be launch alone by Vietnam by 2030.

According to a report, last year in December Singapore’s Keppel and Vietnam’s Sovico Group were planning to create new undersea fiber-optic cables to enhance the region’s data infrastructure. Furthermore, the Vietnamese and Singapore’s state owned telecom companies also announced a preliminary agreementto develop an undersea cable linking Vietnam directly to Singapore, but no construction agreement has been announced till date.

Both the leaders also discussed on various other important topics such as green development, industrial parks expansion, and peace and stability in the region. Singapore committed to support Vietnam in developing international financial centres, the joint statement said.