HANOI, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Senior Minister of Singapore Goh ChokTong will visit Vietnam from Dec. 10-15 to strengthen bilateral relations, a local spokesman announced Thursday.

    The visit, the first to Vietnam since Goh Chok Tong became the Senior Minister of Singapore in August 2004, aims to consolidate and foster his relations with Vietnamese leaders, discuss directions to promote bilateral relations, especially in politics, economy, trade and investment, culture and education, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said at a press briefing.

    The minister and some 15 other Singaporean officials will also meet Singaporean enterprises in northern Bac Ninh province and southern Ho Chi Minh City.

    Two-way trade between Vietnam and Singapore surged to 7.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 from 6.6 billion dollars in 2005 and 3.3 billion dollars in 1998, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

    By the end of July 2007, Vietnam had licensed 503 Singaporean-invested projects totaling 9.6 billion dollars, making Singapore the second biggest among 79 countries and regions investing in Vietnam by that time.