During their talks in Canberra, Prime Minister Dung and his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd reached a high consensus on drawing up a comprehensive cooperation roadmap between the two countries on the back of their good relationship and cooperation over the past 35 years and commensurate with the potential for cooperation of each country.

The two Government leaders agreed to increase cooperation in such traditional areas as economics, trade, investment, development aid, education, tourism and culture, and to expand cooperation in other areas including labour, construction, transportation, security, national defence, communications, agriculture, health care, and science and technology.

Representatives of the two Governments signed an agreement on the transfer of convicted criminals, and also the State Bank of Vietnam handed over a license to the Australian ANZ bank to establish a wholly foreign bank in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the Australian Government pledged to continue to provide official development assistance (ODA) capital for Vietnam to carry out key projects, including the Cao Lanh bridge in southern Dong Thap province. 

PM Rudd told his guest that Australia is finalising procedures for recognising Vietnam’s market economy status, and that Australia will increase scholarships for Vietnamese students annually. 

The two leaders’ strong political commitment and the prospect for comprehensive cooperation won leading Australian businesses’ trust. Economic deals worth more than US$1 billion were signed at the Vietnam-Australia business forum held in Melbourne on October 14. The biggest deal went to a US$1 billion economic zone project in southern Tien Giang province.