Vietnamese PM welcomed in Canberra on official visit to Australia
VOV.VN - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancée on March 7 hosted a welcoming ceremony at the Parliament House on Capital Hill, Canberra, for Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife who are on a three-day official visit to Australia.
The two PMs were shaking hands when 19-gun salutes were being fired and the national flag of Vietnam was being hoisted to welcome the Vietnamese PM.
Albanese invited Chinh to the podium of honour to render the flag salute and they both then reviewed the guard of honour.
Following the ceremony, the two PMs held talks on measures to further develop the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia.
The cooperative relations between Vietnam and Australia have developed positively since the two countries established diplomatic ties in February 1973.
Political trust has been enhanced through the regular exchange of high-level visits, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bilateral cooperation has yielded positive results in various fields, including diplomacy, finance-security, economics, trade, investment, tourism, culture and people-to-people exchanges.
Two-way trade turnover between the two countries hit US$13.8 billion last year. Currently, Australia is Vietnam’s seventh largest trading partner while Vietnam is Australia’s 10th largest partner.
Australia has more than 600 projects capitalized at more than US$2 billion, ranking 20th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam has 92 projects in Australia with a total investment capital of US$552.7 million, ranking 11th out of 80 countries and territories investing in Australia.
Australia is one of the largest bilateral partners providing non-refundable aid to Vietnam. It provides many scholarships for long-term and short-term programmes for Vietnam.
Currently, about 350,000 Vietnamese nationals are residing, working and studying in Australia, making an important contribution to bilateral relations.
During PM Chinh’s visit, the two sides will review the development in bilateral relations in recent times and outline major orientations for future cooperation, especially in economics, trade and investment, as well as in other fields such as the digital economy, green economy, energy conversion, and the development of renewable energy.
After the talks, the two PMs are scheduled to hold a joint press briefing to announce the upgrade of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
