Vietnam is Australia’s priority partner in Southeast Asia, says Tim Watts
VOV.VN - Vietnam is one of the priority partners in Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia Tim Watts told Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam.
Receiving Tam at the Parliament House on May 7, Watts said Australia is formulating specific frameworks to realise the 2040 strategy, with priority to be given to areas such as trade, education, and health care.
He recalled the recent upgrade of Australia-Vietnam relations to a level of comprehensive strategic partnership in early 2024, saying the new partnership framework reflects the strategic trust, stature and long-term commitments of the two governments as well as mutual understanding between the two peoples.
He suggested that bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation should be enhanced on par with the new partnership framework between the two countries.
The official also stressed the importance of cooperation between Australia and the region to deal with common challenges and manage the maritime space according to international law.
Watts congratulated Tam on taking on a new mission in Australia and expressed his belief that Australia-Vietnam partnership would further flourish in the coming time.
Tam for his part highly valued Watts’ contributions to the upgrade of bilateral relations, and suggested that the two sides coordinate to build a detailed action plan to realise the new partnership framework in the 2024-2028 period.
He shared his host’s view that the two countries should further promote bilateral economic, trade, and investment.
This year Vietnam will send many delegations from localities and businesses to Australia for trade and investment promotion, he revealed.
The diplomat also raised specific proposals to boost bilateral cooperation in other fields, such as education, human resources training and people-to-people exchanges, as well as in other potential areas.
