Vietnam fosters strategic partnership with Australia
VOV.VN - Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son is scheduled to pay an official visit to Australia from September 11-13 to deepen the strategic partnership which is developing substantially and effectively between the two countries.
The visit comes hot on the heels of a recent Vietnam visit by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong that demonstrates the two countries’ desires to foster bilateral cooperation.
Australia is an important partner that has provided valuable support for Vietnam for years. Bilateral relations have developed positively across various fields from politics, diplomacy, national defense and security to economy, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges over the years, especially since the two countries upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2018.
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh, the two countries share many common interests, and support and trust each other in key issues both bilaterally and multilaterally.
Meanwhile, economic and sci-tech cooperation remain major pillars in bilateral relations. Two-way trade turnover last year exceeded the US$10 billion mark for the first time. The first seven months of this year alone saw bilateral trade figure rise 40% to US$9.6 billion. The latest statistics show Vietnam has become Australia’s 10th largest trading partner, while the latter is the former’s 7th largest trading partner.
With regard to sci-tech cooperation, the two sides have actively implemented many projects in the fields of emerging technology and digital transformation within the framework of Aus4Innovation and ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research), in line with Australia’s Digital Transformation Strategy for 2018-2025 and Vietnam’s National Digital Transformation Programme for 2025 with a vision toward 2030.
In addition, security-defense cooperation has been strengthened on the basis of mutual trust. Australia is the first country that has supported Vietnam in transporting Vietnamese peacekeepers for level 2 field hospitals in South Sudan. It has actively supported English training for Vietnamese soldiers, and cooperated with Vietnam in counter-terrorism, security and maritime safety. Australia has also promoted cooperation with Vietnam within the framework of ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.
Through FM Bui Thanh Son’s coming visit, Vietnam reaffirms its desire to strengthen and develop the strategic partnership with Australia in the context that Australia’s new administration is increasingly turning to Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, said Ambassador Thanh in an interview granted to VOV.
Marking 50 years of bilateral diplomacy in 2023, Vietnam and Australia are expected to make reciprocal visit exchanges to increase coopetition in potential fields such as digital economy, trade and investment.