Australian Prime Minister concludes official visit to Viet Nam
VGP - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has successfully wrapped up his first official visit to Viet Nam on June 3-4.
Australian Prime Minister Albanese (R) and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, June 4, 2023
Within the framework of the visit, Prime Minister Albanese had a wide range of activities such as laying wreaths in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Ha Noi, holding talks with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and meeting with the press, and meeting with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.
On this occasion, the two Prime Ministers visited the women’s football teams of Australia and Viet Nam.
Prime Minister Albanese visited RMIT University and enjoyed Vietnamese sandwich "banh mi" and drank "bia hoi", a locally brewed beer often used by Hanoians on hot summer days.
The two leaders agreed to increase high-level mutual visits and meetings between the two countries’ parties, parliaments, and governments; boost people-to-people exchanges; continue to deepen the Strategic Partnership in the new period; push ahead with economic, trade, and investment links, including fruitfully carrying out the plan on implementing the Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES) for 2021 – 2025.
They targeted to raise bilateral trade to US$20 billion in the coming time, reinforce the two economies’ connectivity, and step up cooperation in defense, security, judicial affairs, official development assistance (ODA), education - training, science - technology, labor, transport, tourism, climate change response, and digital transformation.
Viet Nam and Australia consented to continue coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, ASEAN, and ASEAN-led mechanisms; promote dialogue, build trust, encourage countries to hold dialogue and cooperate for common goals, ensuring the central role of ASEAN; and strengthen cooperation within the framework of mechanisms of the Mekong Sub-region in promoting investment. Australia identifies Viet Nam as playing a central role in ASEAN.
The two sides reaffirmed the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea; settling disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The two sides agreed to continue promoting cooperation in various fields, especially in addressing security challenges and climate change.
Australia will support Viet Nam in energy transition, including a support package worth AUD 105 million for Viet Nam’s planning on sustainable development, clean energy development, and mining; expand the program to support Viet Nam in agriculture.
The two Prime Ministers witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents, including an MoU between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on cooperation in science, technology, and innovation; an MoU between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and DFAT on establishing a ministerial-level dialogue on trade; an MoU between the State Bank of Viet Nam and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) on exchanging information on money laundering and terrorism financing; an MoU between the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) and the Western Sydney University (UWS) on the latter’s provision of 70 scholarships for Vietnamese students to study at UWS’s Viet Nam campus.
Viet Nam Airlines received a license and announced the launch of the Ha Noi – Melbourne route, and Vietjet Air received a license and announced the launch of its service between Ho Chi Minh City and Brisbane./.
