PMO: PM Lee to make official visit to Vietnam from 21 to 24 March

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be making an official visit to Vietnam from 21 to 24 March 2017 to reaffirm Singapore’s longstanding ties with Vietnam.
Mr Lee will visit Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) from 21 to 22 March 2017 and Hanoi from 22 to 24 March 2017. He will meet several Vietnamese leaders to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation that is underpinned by the Strategic Partnership concluded during PM’s last official visit to Vietnam in September 2013.
Prime Minister Phuc will also host dinner for the Prime Minister.
PMO said that PM Lee will receive calls by Secretary of Da Nang City Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Anh and Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung.
He will also lay wreaths at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Monument for National Heroes and Martyrs. In HCMC, PM will receive a call and be hosted to lunch by Chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong.
It stated that PM Lee will attend a luncheon with businessmen based in HCMC and officiate the opening of the Mapletree Business Centre. PM will also attend a reception with Singaporeans based in HCMC.
PM will be accompanied by Mrs Lee, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng, Member of Parliament Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, and senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During PM’s absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be the Acting Prime Minister.
On his Facebook page, PM Lee wrote that he had arrived in Ho Chi Minh City for the official visit.
“Singapore is a good friend of Vietnam. Look forward to meeting the Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee, Mr Nguyễn Thành Phong, and in Hanoi, President Trần Đại Quang (whom we hosted last year), along with other Vietnamese leaders, to explore ways to strengthen our friendship,” he wrote.
PM Lee also noted that he will also be meeting many Singaporeans over the next few days, both in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.