Vietnam, Australia enjoy broader cooperation among localities

Most notably, South Australia is one of the localities that enjoys increasingly close relations with Vietnam.

The South Australia Business Council recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between both sides, featuring the participation of many high-ranking representatives in the state government, parliamentarians, and businesses.

As a result, Vietnam is increasingly becoming a familiar name and a favourite place among many Australians, especially in South Australia, with this being clearly demonstrated through the fact that about 200 guests attended the celebration party for 50th anniversary of Australia- Vietnam diplomacy.

In her speech at the event, South Australia Governor Frances Adamson said that the mutual relationship is being increasingly strengthening amid the challenging regional strategic environment. This fact also opens up plenty of opportunities for the two countries to further ramp up ties in the economic and cultural fields.

South Australia Trade and Investment Minister Nick Champion said that Vietnam currently represents Australia's eighth largest trading partner.

Last year saw Australia export AUD13.7 billion worth of goods to the Vietnamese market, up 45% over the same period from last year, while the nation exported AUD9.3 billion worth of goods to Australia, up 35% on-year.

Currently, Australia has become the country’s 11th largest export market. Regarding investment, Minister Champion said that in 2021 his country poured AUD1.9 billion into Vietnam, with the Southeast Asian nation investing AUD416 million in the Australian market.

These figures show that mutual trade and investment ties are growing rapidly, in which it is partly being contributed by South Australia.

Minister Champion stated that in 2022, South Australia imported goods worth AUD183.2 million from the Vietnamese market, up 29% over the previous year with key items, including shrimp, noodles, paper, insulators, and conductors.

South Australian's exports to Vietnam reached AUD428 million, up 7% with the main items including refined copper, malt, animal feed, and wine.

Regarding investment, since 2003, South Australian businesses have invested AUD47 million in the Vietnamese market.

Furthermore, Vietnamese students going to South Australia is also on the rise, with 2,200 students coming to the state last year.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh affirmed that the joint relationship is growing stronger and stronger, not only as a partner, by as the two countries are also neighbours ties are growing to the point of being close friends with strengthened strategic trust.

The country’s relationship with South Australia is also being enhanced, with South Australia Governor Frances Adamson visiting the nation in 2022 to seek opportunities to boost bilateral relations.

Businesses based in South Australia have also signed many co-operation deals with Vietnamese partners, including agreements with businesses in Binh Duong, Da Nang, and Kon Tum provinces.

Ambassador Thanh added that the Vietnamese community in South Australia is increasingly expanding and contributing to the state's development, as well as the multifaceted relationship with their homeland.

In the context that the two countries have launched a broad array of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, the Vietnamese diplomat believes that this represents an opportunity for both sides to review achievements and update both bilateral and multilateral co-operation agreements that the two sides have joined. This will allow their businesses to use it as a basis to promote fresh co-operation opportunities in the time ahead.

He also expects the business community in South Australia and the Vietnamese community in Australia to make more positive contributions to building an increasingly closer and closer relationship.

In a recent interview with a VOV correspondent in Australia, Francis Wong, chairman of the Vietnam-South Australia Business Council, said that he views Vietnam as a potential partner of Australia in general and South Australia in particular, especially when the nation is becoming an economic centre of Southeast Asia and Asia.

Vietnam represents a reputable partner in ASEAN and a member of many multilateral trade agreements that Australia also participates in, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), meaning that Australia and South Australian enterprises will have many advantages when promoting relations with Vietnam, Wong went on to say.

According to him, South Australian businesses are keen to co-operate with Vietnam in clean energy, agriculture, wine, digital economy, education, and tourism.

Those in attendance at the event also included many Vietnamese business representatives from South Australia, including Ly Hoang Duy, general director of 4 Ways Fresh, an enterprise that imports many Vietnamese agricultural products and invests in the agricultural sector in the nation.

In a recent interview with a VOV correspondent in Australia, Duy said that he was very happy that the relationship between the two governments was improving, making firms feel more secure and more favourable when promoting business activities with Vietnamese partners.

Duy stated that over the years, his business has imported coconuts, mangoes, litchi, longans, and dragon fruit from the Vietnamese market.

Currently, he is making efforts to soon import other fresh fruits from Vietnam such as pomelos and rambutans.

Duy therefore believes that the prospect of further business co-operation between the two sides is very positive. Vietnam is not only a potential market but also has an abundant and young workforce, thereby making its convenient for Australian businesses to invest in Vietnam.

He highlighted the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations as a prime opportunity for both nations' businesses to exchange and seek new co-operation opportunities, thus developing bilateral relations in a closer and more practical manner.