Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is paying an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. This is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's first official visit to Vietnam since taking office. Taking place in the context of Vietnam and Australia celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations (1973-2023) and 5 years of strategic partnership (2018-2023), the visit is expected to contribute to strengthening political trust and further deepening the multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Australia.
Going back in time, in 1973, Australia was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam right after the Paris Agreement was signed. Over the long journey of half a century, the Vietnam-Australia relationship has gradually developed sustainably, achieved many impressive achievements, and aimed at upgrading the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Over the years, senior leaders of the two countries have maintained regular visits and contacts at international and regional forums. Most recently, President Vo Van Thuong met with the Governor-General and Prime Minister of Australia at the Inauguration of the British King (May 2023). Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also met on the sidelines of the 41st ASEAN Summit (Cambodia, November 2022) and at the expanded G7 Summit (Japan, May 2023). Through visits and contacts of senior leaders, political trust between the two countries has been enhanced, creating momentum for other areas of cooperation to develop strongly, notably cooperation in economics , trade and investment. In 2022, two-way trade turnover reached nearly 15.7 billion USD, up 26.7% compared to 2021, making Australia Vietnam's 7th largest trading partner and Vietnam Australia's 10th largest trading partner. As of the end of February 2023, Australia had 590 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of about 2 billion USD. Meanwhile, Vietnam invested in 88 projects in Australia with a total investment capital of 592.3 million USD.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a meeting on November 12, 2022, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: VNA |
Notably, Australia is one of the largest bilateral partners providing non-refundable ODA to Vietnam. Despite being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia has maintained ODA aid to Vietnam, averaging 78.9 million AUD/year in the 2020-2022 period. Over the past 50 years, Australia has provided a total of 3 billion AUD (about 47 trillion VND) in ODA, effectively contributing to Vietnam's socio-economic development.
Looking at the overall Vietnam-Australia relationship, cooperation in the field of defense and security is a bright spot. The two sides regularly exchange delegations, cooperate in crime prevention and control, immigration management, combating illegal migration, exchanging information, experiences, and English language training... In particular, Vietnam and Australia have many practical cooperation activities in the field of United Nations peacekeeping. With extensive experience in training, coaching, and deploying forces to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations, Australia always pays special attention, actively and effectively supports and assists Vietnam in participating in these activities. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in peacekeeping training and mine clearance in 2016. The Royal Australian Air Force has repeatedly supported the transport of Vietnam's field hospital to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan. Currently, the two sides are discussing and preparing to sign the Peacekeeping Partnership Agreement.
In order to continue promoting the current momentum of the relationship, the two sides are interested in expanding into a number of new areas of cooperation such as: Climate change response, digital transformation, energy transformation. In addition, education-training, labor, agriculture, tourism and people-to-people exchange are also areas of cooperation that have developed well and still have much potential.
Not stopping at the bilateral level, the two sides also cooperate closely, effectively and support each other at multilateral forums as well as on international and regional issues of common concern. For Australia, Vietnam is a friend and a reliable partner. Vietnam's increasingly enhanced role and position in the international arena has created motivation for the two countries to coordinate more closely in multilateral cooperation mechanisms.
With a long-standing and extensive cooperative relationship in all fields, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to Vietnam carries high expectations of bringing the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership to a new height.
The visit, taking place just two months after the Australian Governor-General’s state visit, demonstrates Australia’s appreciation of its relations with Vietnam. As the two countries stand on the threshold of a new phase of cooperation and upgrading bilateral relations, the visit will contribute to strengthening political trust and creating new momentum to help the Vietnam-Australia cooperation relationship reach further in all areas.
Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/chinh-tri/cac-van-de/dua-quan-he-doi-tac-chien-luoc-viet-nam-australia-len-tam-cao-moi-730131
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