Five key areas in Viet Nam-Australia relations

In a recent interview with the VGP ahead of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Australia from March 5-9, Andrew Goledzinowski expressed his hope that the Vietnamese Prime Minister's upcoming visit will help boost cooperation in mutual political and strategic understanding.

According to the diplomat, Viet Nam and Australia share very similar ideas about the need for regional resilience, respect for the rule of international law, and a free and open region. Besides, Viet Nam has always been a country that has strongly advocated sovereignty, independence and the rule of law.

"These are interests that we share. From our point of view, the more we can do with Viet Nam towards those important goals, the better it is not just for Viet Nam and Australia, but for the whole region. So that for me is maybe the most important element", he shared.

The second area is economic and trade cooperation, he said, adding that Australia has a new economic policy towards Viet Nam, which the Australian Prime Minister will be announcing.

The Ambassador expected that thanks to the new policy, Australian investors will pour more investment in Viet Nam.

"A third area is education. Australia already is an important partner for Viet Nam. We think we can do more. And we know the Prime Minister is very interested in education. So he will be attending an education roundtable in Canberra, where all the Australian universities will be there to meet with him", noted the diplomat.

A fourth area is energy transition and climate change. When Prime Minister Albanese was in Viet Nam last year, he announced AUD105 million to cooperate with the country to help stimulate this important transition.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced additional money worth AUD95 million for climate adaptation in the Mekong region on the occasion of her official visit to Viet Nam last year.

Furthermore, knowledge, innovation and science is a key area in the bilateral ties, noted the Ambassador, hoping that some new ideas will emerge from the Vietnamese PM's visit in that important area.

Important step in relations to Australia and Viet Nam

Andrew Goledzinowski told, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's upcoming official visit to Australia is an incredibly important visit.

It comes after the two nations celebrated the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year, during which all the important Australian leaders came to Viet Nam.

"This week, we will be hosting all the ASEAN leaders, of those, only three have been invited to undertake a bilateral visit. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is one of those three. Viet Nam has been chosen because Australia appreciates the importance of Viet Nam and the importance of the bilateral relationship, which we expect will grow and be enhanced as a consequence of his excellencies' visit to Australia", he shared.

Regarding a possibility of upgrading the relationship to comprehensive strategy partnership, the Ambassador said, there's a very good possibility.

When Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue visited Australia at the end of 2022, he and the Australian Prime Minister announced the intention to work towards the elevation.

"Last year, Viet Nam elevated relations with three important countries, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. I am confident that the two Prime Ministers will take that next important step in relations to Australia and Viet Nam", noted the diplomat.

ASEAN is at heart of Australia's regional strategy

Talking about the importance of the Special Summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations, the Ambassador said, Australia was the very first country to enter into a dialogue partnership with ASEAN. Four years ago, Australia became ASEAN's first comprehensive strategic partner.

"There's a lot to discuss. We want to strengthen our economic engagement with ASEAN. The bloc is now our second most important trading partner, more even than South Korea, Japan and the U.S. so we want to build on our strategic and political cooperation in the region", he emphasized.

According to the diplomat, there are some important economic announcements that will be coming out. There are also some important side events happening in Melbourne in terms of clean energy transition, maritime cooperation, and leadership.

"We value ASEAN a great deal. We know that we live in a region and a world which is maybe less safe than it was in previous years. ASEAN has always been a force for stability and dialogue. We will talk about ASEAN centrality. ASEAN is at the heart of our regional strategy", shared the Ambassador.

He expressed his belief that this summit will further strengthen ASEAN's role in maintaining stability, peace and dialogue in the world./.