Salvador Illa travels to Vietnam and Singapore to attract investments from the Asian market
It is the first time that a Catalan president visits Southeast Asia
BarcelonaTwo months after crossing the Atlantic and visiting California, Salvador Illa is now looking towards Asia and this Saturday begins a five-day trip to Vietnam and Singapore to strengthen commercial ties with Southeast Asia. In fact, it is the first time a President of the Generalitat visits this area, but it is the third trip Illa makes to Asia: since he has been President of the Government, he has visited Japan, South Korea, and China. The objective is to promote exports and attract investments from the Asian market. Salvador Illa will visit Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, and Singapore to meet with economic agents and the main airline of each country, in addition to visiting Catalan companies located in both territories. In parallel, the president will also meet with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Gia Tuc.
Among the events listed on the president's agenda is the inauguration of the business forum between Catalonia and Ho Chi Minh City, which will be held in the country's economic capital, and where Illa will give a conference to businessmen. In Hanoi, he will meet with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and in Singapore he will meet with ST Engineering, one of Asia's leading technology, engineering, and defense groups. The multinational has a business portfolio in the aerospace, smart city, defense, and public security areas.
In addition, Illa will meet with Vietnam Airlines, as there is a "mutual interest" from both governments in the internationalization of routes, according to sources from the executive to the ACN. He will also meet with Singapore Airlines, which in 2026 will have been operating in Barcelona for twenty years. The Singaporean flag carrier already announced at the beginning of this year an increase from three to five direct flights to Barcelona during the summer. It will also permanently eliminate intermediate stops and consolidate the direct flight throughout the year, in an operation planned for the end of October.
The political agenda
On an institutional level, Illa will meet with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, who also leads the People's Action Party (PAP), which is technocratic and centre-right. He will also meet with the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Gia Tuc, who, in addition, holds one of the nineteen seats on the Politburo of the country's Communist Party and is in charge of directing key sectors of the state's economic, industrial, and commercial policy. He will also meet with regional institutional leaders such as the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and that of Da Nang, local executive bodies in Vietnam.
Both Vietnam and Singapore have signed free trade agreements with the European Union (EU) in recent years and, wishing to understand how this relationship with Europe is structured, Illa will meet with the EU Ambassador, Artis Bertulis, in Singapore.