Ambassador’s contributions to Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership praised

During a reception held on June 24 in Hanoi for Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie as a farewell before ending his working term in Vietnam, Minister Giang congratulated Ambassador Mudie on fulfilling  his term. The Minister also expressed his gratitude to the Government and people of Australia for donating more than 22 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the country and pledging to support the Ministry of National Defence with medical equipment for COVID-19 prevention and control worth AUS1.5 million.

Minister Giang thanked and stated his great appreciation for Australia's support of the nation’s UN peacekeeping force, especially helping the transport level two war hospital with their mission in South Sudan.

This has contributed to Vietnam deploying its forces both quickly and safely, whilst also deepening the strategic partnership between both sides, Minister Giang said, adding that the country wishes to continue to receive support from Australia in this regard.

He went on to emphasized that despite being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, defence co-operation between the two countries is developing as planned.

Both sides continued to maintain high-level contacts through online telephone conversations held between the two defense ministers, as well as online defence policy dialogue at a deputy defence minister level. In addition, they have also ramped up co-operation training, UN peace keeping activities, settlement of war consequences, and the exchange of army skills.

With regard to orientations for co-operation moving forward, Minister Giang said in addition to effectively maintaining existing co-operation contents, the two defence ministries will continue to study and expand ties in potential fields such as cybersecurity, military trade, defence research exchange, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief.

Moving forward, the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2023, Minister Giang said, outlining his hope that the two sides will launch a range of co-operation activities to mark this important milestone.

Moreover, Minister Giang believes that Ambassador Mudie will achieve plenty of success in future positions, with the Australian diplomat supporting and promoting the strategic partnership, focusing on defence co-operation, for the cause of peace, stability, and development of the region and the world.

In response, Ambassador Mudie affirmed that in his new position, he will pay greater attention to enhancing ties between the two countries, including defence relations and UN peacekeeping operations.