At his meeting with former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating in Hanoi on July 15, PM Dung expressed his pleasure at rapid developments in bilateral relations in recent times, praising contributions by Paul Keating in his capacity of Australia’s Prime Minister during the 1991-96 period to promoting bilateral cooperation in many areas.

PM Dung asked Paul Keating to hurry the Australian government into funding construction of Cao Lanh bridge in southern Vietnam and supporting the Thang Long royal citadel as UNESCO’s heritage site.

Regarding cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, PM Dung stressed that Vietnam, like other ASEAN countries, always wants to build a community of peace and development. Vietnam hails new mechanisms for building peace, stability and development in the region, the PM said.

The former Australian PM expressed his hope that Vietnam, as ASEAN Chair, would accelerate expansion of cooperation among regional countries, especially the building of new mechanisms for cooperation between ASEAN and non-bloc partners, including Australia.

He said Australian companies wished to cooperate in producing aluminium and constructing a railway for transportation and consumption of aluminium products.