General Secretary, President To Lam meets Australian Governor-General in Canberra

To expressed his delight at the robust advancement of Viet Nam-Australia relations over the last 50 years, especially after the two countries elevated ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2024.

Australia is a trusted partner of Viet Nam, sharing many strategic interests with the country, noted the Vietnamese leader.

Viet Nam highly appreciates Australia's partnership and support during the country's development process, and wishes to further deepen the bilateral relations towards a more substantive and effective manner.

To suggested that the two countries strengthen political trust via high-level exchanges and various cooperation channels; step up defense and security cooperation; and promote trade and investment in a bid to achieve the trade goal of US$20 billion.

Viet Nam expects to attract more high-quality capital flows from Australian businesses and investment funds through Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, said To Lam. He called on the Australian authorities to continue facilitating Vietnamese investors' investment in Australia.

Regarding education and knowledge sharing, he urged Australia to support Viet Nam in enhancing public governance capacity, administrative reform and digital transformation in public sector while increasing scholarships, linkages among universities and research institutes, and vocational training cooperation to meet workforce needs in emerging industries.

To also called for stronger cultural and tourism exchanges and greater people-to-people connectivity, particularly among young people, researchers and younger generations of leaders.

Mostyn, for her part, expressed her admiration for Viet Nam's development achievements and dynamism, particularly its strong transformation in the areas of economic development, science and technology, and international integration. 

Both sides share many similarities in their development visions, viewing science and technology, innovation, education, and a highly skilled workforce as key drivers of development, she noted, affirming that these shared foundations provide favorable conditions for the two countries to expand cooperation into new areas.

Australia hopes to become a trusted partner of Viet Nam and stands ready to accompany and support the Southeast Asian country in achieving its development goals, reiterated the host.

She underscored the importance of people-to-people and community ties in building a long-term foundation for bilateral relations, and hailed the contributions of the Vietnamese community in Australia, as well as the role of Vietnamese students, intellectuals, experts and businesspeople in promoting connections between the two countries.

The two leaders exchanged views on regional and international issues of shared concern, emphasizing the importance of dialogue, cooperation and respect for international law. Both sides vowed to work together for a peaceful, stable, inclusive and developing Indo-Pacific region.

The same day, To had a meeting with President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines and Speaker of the House of Representatives Milton Dick.

The Vietnamese leader called on the legislative bodies of the two countries to continue maintaining exchanges at all levels and strengthening cooperation among parliamentary committees, friendship parliamentarians' groups, female and young parliamentarians.

Such exchanges, he said, will help consolidate political trust, share legislative and governance experience and translate high-level agreements into concrete outcomes.

The Vietnamese leader called on the Australian Parliament and Government to facilitate the issuance of visas for Vietnamese citizens to study, work, and live in Australia.

The Australian parliamentary leaders affirmed their readiness to promote exchanges between the two legislative bodies, foster engagement among parliamentarians of different generations and share experience in legislation and governance.

The two sides agreed to continue coordination and mutual support at multilateral parliamentary forums, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

They also agreed to promote multilateralism, respect for international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), thereby contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and beyond./.