At the meeting, General Nguyen Tan Cuong reaffirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to its relationship with Australia. He said the two countries’ decision to officially upgrade ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March 2024 marked an important milestone, creating favourable conditions for further expanding cooperation across multiple fields, including defence.

He noted that in recent years, based on the 2010 Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation and the 2018 Joint Vision Statement on enhancing defence cooperation, Vietnam-Australia defence ties have been actively implemented across a wide range of areas.

These include delegation exchanges; dialogue and consultations; training; participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations; cooperation between services and branches; dealing with war legacy issues; and multilateral defence cooperation, particularly within the framework of the ADMM+.

General Nguyen Tan Cuong hailed the effective cooperation between the two navies, highlighting activities such as courtesy visits, participation in dialogue mechanisms, English-language training and specialised professional courses.

Based on guidance from senior leaders and the defence ministries of both countries, he expressed the hope that the two sides would continue to work closely to further promote cooperation between services and branches and create favourable conditions for bilateral naval cooperation. Priority areas include stepped-up delegation exchanges and consultations to enhance mutual understanding and trust, stronger cooperation in training and the sharing of information and experience, as well as search and rescue cooperation.

On the occasion,  Cuong extended an invitation to leaders of Australia’s defence forces and the Royal Australian Navy, as well as Australian defence enterprises, to attend the third Vietnam International Defence Exhibition.

Vice Admiral Mark Hammond thanked General Nguyen Tan Cuong for the reception and briefed him on the positive results of recent working-level exchanges between the two naval commands.

He said 2026 would be a significant milestone, opening up further opportunities for cooperation between the two defence ministries in general and between the two navies in particular, thereby contributing to the continued development of effective bilateral cooperation.

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