PM’s visit hoped to further bolster Vietnam-Singapore tiesPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is to make an official visit to Singapore from April 25-27 and attend the 32nd ASEAN Summit from April 27-28, which is expected to further foster the already sound partnership between the two countries. Since 1991, especially since when Vietnam became a member of the ASEAN in 1995, bilateral ties between the two countries have grown rapidly. In September 2013, the two sides lifted ties to a strategic partnership during the Vietnam visit of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Huong said the April 25-28 visit, the first by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, reiterates the Vietnamese government’s policy of valuing the strategic partnership with Singapore and strengthening trust in bilateral ties. In trade, Singapore is Vietnam’s second largest trade partner in ASEAN and the sixth largest globally.