Vietnam and Australia boost financial cooperation

Meeting with Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment Andrew Leigh on August 1, Phoc noted that the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia has been developing positively in recent times, including financial cooperation.

He informed his host about a workshop on connecting the financial markets of Vietnam and Australia in Sydney on Augsut 2, which he said is a specific step towards concretising the March 2024 joint statement on the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two counties.

According to the minister, two-way trade between Vietnam and Australia was on an upward trajectory in the first six months of the year, but it is not commensurate with the potential and the positive development of bilateral relations. He expected that the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam and the Treasury of Australia would work closely together to promote trade exchanges between the two countries.

He proposed that the Australian side share experience and train experts in combating drug crimes and cross-border smuggling; applying information technology to tax and risk management to support tax reform; and developing the financial market and the carbon credit market in a sustainable manner.

Leigh for his part said that following the upgrade of bilateral relationship in March 2024, Australia has worked out specific action programs in various fields to concretise the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam.

Australia will coordinate with Vietnam in areas where it has strengths such as climate change response and clean energy, he told Phoc.

He emphasized that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Treasury of Australia and the Ministry of Finance of Hanoi in June 2024 is a testament to the development of good relationship between the two countries.

Leigh said the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam will ink a Memorandum of Understanding during Phoc’s current working visit, serving as an important foundation to deploy comprehensive cooperation programs in future.

With regard to green finance and green bond, he revealed that last June, the Government of Australia issued AUD7 billion green bonds to support clean energy development. Therefore, he said Australia is ready to support Vietnam in developing the green financial market.

The same day, Minister Ho Duc Phoc visited the Australian Clean Energy Regulator(CER), and the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.