Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore and Vietnam

In his memoirs published in 2000, Singaporean founder Lee Kuan Yew recounted his memories of the "ice-breaking" period in relations between the two countries, and had optimistic assessments of Vietnam's development potential.

The late Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was an opponent of Vietnam on the Cambodia issue in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century. However, the relationship between Vietnam and Singapore began to change since 1990.

In his memoir "From the Third World to the First World: The Singapore Story 1965-2000", Mr. Lee Kuan Yew recounted the ice-breaking period in the relationship between the two countries, as well as memories of his later visits to Vietnam.

Accordingly, at the Davos World Economic Forum in February 1990, Mr. Vo Van Kiet, then Vice President of the Council of Ministers, requested to meet Mr. Ly and suggested that the two countries put aside past disagreements and move towards cooperation.

Late Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. Photo: Telegraph.

But it was not until more than a year later that Vietnam-Singapore relations really turned a new page, with the visit of Mr. Vo Van Kiet as Prime Minister. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew had resigned as Singapore's Prime Minister at that time, but still held an important role in the island nation's politics.

"Although he was no longer prime minister, we still met at a banquet hosted by my successor, Goh Chok Tong. When the banquet was about to end, he (Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet) walked towards me, hugged me like the Communists often did, and asked me if I wanted to help Vietnam. I asked, how? By becoming their economic adviser. I was speechless," Mr. Lee wrote.

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew said that he only had experience managing a city-state, but had never managed a country of 60 million people, devastated by years of war and in the process of changing its development model like Vietnam.

"But he was very determined, and later sent me two letters. I agreed to visit Vietnam, but not as an advisor, but wanted to discuss with them, focus my intelligence, to find a way to transition to a market economy," Mr. Ly wrote in his memoir.

In April 1992, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew visited Vietnam for the first time. On the first working day, he had a day-long discussion with then Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and other senior officials, with the main content revolving around Vietnam's modernization. "I suggested that they study the transition process of Taiwan and South Korea, from agricultural societies to developed industrial societies," he recalled.

After the discussion, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew also had talks with General Secretary Do Muoi. Mr. Lee also requested to meet former Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. In addition, when visiting Ho Chi Minh City, he also had a talk with former General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh.

In a short report to the Singaporean government, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew assessed that, although Vietnam still faces many difficulties, the Vietnamese people are a nation full of vitality and intelligence. "I believe that in 20 or 30 years, they will revive, because they are all very serious people," he commented.

After Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's visit in September 1992, the Singaporean government sent a working group to Vietnam to make recommendations on building the infrastructure system. In addition, the government also decided to establish a support fund worth 10 million USD to help Vietnam train and develop officials.

In October 1993, General Secretary Do Muoi visited Singapore. A month later, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew paid a return visit. The Singapore Embassy in Hanoi reported to Mr. Lee that a collection of his speeches had been translated into Vietnamese and was widely sold in Vietnam.

During the talks, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew once again expressed his optimism about Vietnam's future development, especially when peace is the major development trend of the times.

"East Asia has learned from its 40-year history that war is fundamentally useless," he wrote. "In fact, Vietnam is progressing. The market is more dynamic, there are more shops and hotels than before. All this is reflected in the prosperous scenes of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City."

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and former General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. Photo: Reuters

In March 1995, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew visited Vietnam for the third time, attending a conference on economic reform chaired by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Phan Van Khai. Mr. Lee suggested that if we want to attract investors, we need to make the first wave of investors feel welcome.

"My view is that investors must be treated as valued friends, and someone must lead them out of the maze of bureaucracy, to avoid stepping on mines or traps," Mr. Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his memoir.

He also presented some of the difficulties Singaporean companies faced when investing in Vietnam. "From the feedback from foreign investors, my opinion has worked," Mr. Ly wrote. "When the general director of a large German company told me that they (the Vietnamese government) provided a guide, I smiled."

In November 1997, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew visited Ho Chi Minh City again, in the context of the ongoing Asian financial crisis. According to his memoir, he mentioned the difficulties that foreign investors encountered due to changes in financial policy before the crisis and received a positive response from the Vietnamese government.

The founding father of Singapore remained optimistic about Vietnam's development potential, because of the admirable qualities of the Vietnamese people. "The skills they demonstrated in using Soviet weapons during the war, the ability to adapt to overcome material difficulties, as well as the achievements of many Vietnamese in the US and France, all these remind everyone that they have admirable qualities," Mr. Lee Kuan Yew wrote.

According to VNE