Australia-Viet Nam Policy Institute makes debut

The institute aims to conduct researches on the strategic relations between Australia and Viet Nam, contributing to effectively implementing Australia's Southeast Asian Economic Strategy toward 2040.

Prime Minister Pham, who is in Australia to attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit and pay an official visit to the country,  expressed his belief that the institute's activities in providing policy recommendations to the two governments would help deepen the bilateral relationship, making it more practical and effective across all fields for the development of each country and people of both nations, and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

He proposed RMIT invest more in enhancing the quality of its infrastructure and making long-term investment in Viet Nam, thus contributing to promoting education-training cooperation between the two countries.

The same day, Pham attended a ceremony to mark 30 years of the first direct air route between Viet Nam and Australia.

He expressed his hope that Viet Nam's airlines will cooperate and compete fairly, especially in the current context when the two countries are to upgrade their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

He also urged Australian banks, investment funds, and investors to invest indirectly in Vietnamese airlines, saying that the Vietnamese ministries and sectors will strengthen their role in state management, remove difficulties, and proactively support airlines to overcome challenges and promote rapid and sustainable development.

The Prime Minister took the occasion to thank Australia, specifically Australian citizens who choose Vietnamese airlines such as Viet Nam Airlines and Vietjet, to visit the Southeast Asian country, saying that this has contributed to boosting cultural connections and economic development of the two countries.

He expressed his belief that Viet Nam Airlines will reap more achievements in the next 30 years thanks to the solid foundations for development laid over the past time.

In the early 90s of the last century, Viet Nam Airlines launched a direct air route to Australia with irregular flights each month between Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney and Melbourne.

The national flag carrier operates 23 flights per week on five routes from Ha Noi and HCM City to Melbourne; Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney, and Ho Chi Minh City to Perth.

Over the last three decades, Viet Nam Airlines operated more than 12,800 flights, transporting 6 million passengers and nearly 170,000 tons of goods.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Pham witnessed the announcement of a new air route linking Melbourne and Ha Noi by Vietjet Air. First flights on the route are scheduled to begin on June 3 with two return flights per week.

Vietjet is currently operating 58 flights per week between Ho Chi Minh City of Viet Nam and the five largest cities of Australia-Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Within the forum's framework, agencies and businesses of the two nations also exchanged many memoranda of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in various fields, including aviation, education and training, offshore wind power development, and high-tech agriculture./.