Top Vietnamese legislator meets with Australian PM

During the meeting, the two leaders showed their delight that Vietnam and Australia have built strategic trust and close cooperation in a multitude of fields over the five decades since the establishment of their diplomatic relations.

They shared the confidence that bilateral ties will be lifted to a new level in the near future.
The Vietnamese NA leader shared his guest’s view that there remains ample room for the two countries to boost cooperation, adding that on the basis of free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), they can enhance trade and investment ties.

He suggested that apart from maintaining existing supply chains, both nations should create new ones to diversify their markets.

The Vietnamese NA supports the two countries in strengthening trade and investment partnerships and hopes that more Australian investors will come to operate in Vietnam, Hue continued.

In response, PM Albanese welcomed the Vietnamese top legislator’s recommendations for the two sides to hold more workshops, meetings, and events to share experience in adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and to intensify exchanges to deepen mutual understanding between the countries’ legislators and legislatures.

He said that in his position, he will help enhance locality-to-locality ties, thus enabling both sides to achieve even better results.

RMIT University has announced the next phase of its investment in education, research, and cooperation in Vietnam, including a strategic investment fund worth AUD250 million (US$165.5 million),  Albanese told his host.

Vietnam is the fifth biggest source of foreign students in Australia, which in turn is the second largest destination of Vietnamese students, he noted, adding that RMIT University is a role model of their education - training cooperation, and he hopes bilateral ties in this regard will grow more strongly in the time to come.

Hailing the collaboration in education and training, NA chairman Hue said during his official visit to Australia last December, universities of both countries signed 12 cooperation agreements. He also welcomed RMIT University’s expansion of investment and cooperation in Vietnam.

He also applauded the opening of the Vietnam - Australia Centre at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, perceiving that it will help improve Vietnamese officials’ capacity. He thanked the Australian Government for sponsoring a training course on climate change and energy for Vietnamese NA deputies and cadres of the NA Office.

The NA leader used this occasion to thank and ask the Australian Government and PM to continue creating optimal conditions for the Vietnamese community to integrate into the local society, and contribute more to the country’s socio-economic development as well as bilateral relations.

Vietnam always attaches importance to and greatly values Australia’s role in the region and the world, he emphasized, while calling on Australia to keep advocating ASEAN and Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue.

PM Albanese also affirmed that he will accelerate the sending of an Australian parliamentarians’ delegation to the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, slated for this September in Hanoi.