Gov’t chief receives Senate, House leaders of Australia

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) meets with President of the Senate Scott Ryan (R) and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tony Smith of Australia on March 15 – Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu

The Australian legislators welcomed the PM, his spouse and the Vietnamese delegation on their official visit to Australia, considering the visit an important hallmark in 2018 when the two countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

The Australian leaders spoke highly the outcomes of the recent talks between Vietnamese and Australian PMs especially the signing of a Joint Statement on the establishment of the Viet Nam-Australia Strategic Partnership and other important cooperation deals in education-training, science-technology and agriculture. They were convinced that the significant agreements would generate breakthroughs in the relations between the two countries and beef up cooperation in specific areas.

Viet Nam, said PM Phuc, treasures and wants to cement and deepen the relations with Australia via all channels, including the parliamentary one. The Vietnamese leader also proposed the host leaders attach more importance to promoting the cooperation between the law-making agencies of the two countries in line with the newly-established Strategic Partnership. 

The Australian legislators welcomed the outcomes reached during the official visit to Australia by Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in November 2017 and said they will visit Viet Nam at the earliest possible time.  

Senate President Scott Ryan highlighted the role of nearly 300,000 Vietnamese-Australian people to the growth of Australia and agreed to support the Vietnamese community in their integration into the local society.  

House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith expressed his impression at the strong tourism cooperation between the two countries. Accordingly, nearly 500,000 Australian tourists visited Viet Nam in 2017, making an unexpectedly increasing surge in comparison with 2016. 

For his part, PM Phuc agreed with the two leaders that education cooperation continues the spotlight in the two countries’ cooperation as evidenced by nearly 30,000 Vietnamese students currently studying in Australia plus 60,000 Vietnamese alumni of Australian universities and colleges, and thousands of Australian students taking part in exchange programs in Viet Nam under the New Colombo Plan. 

The PM believed that educational cooperation will allow the two countries to jointly build a solid foundation for the future./.  

By Kim Anh