Vietnam, Australia agree to reinforce political trust

President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove 

President Tran Dai Quang and Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove have agreed to strengthen political and strategic trust between the two countries by enhancing the exchange of visits and meetings.

They reached the consensus at their talks in Hanoi on May 24, which was held immediately after the official welcome ceremony for the Australian guest, who started his State visit to Vietnam, the first official one as Governor-General of Australia, on May 23.

President Quang highlighted the significance of the Governor-General’s  visit, expressing his belief that it will contribute greatly to promoting the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership. 

The Australian leader congratulated Vietnam on its important achievements in the nation-construction and development cause, as well as its increasing role and position in the region and the world.

He affirmed Australia always attaches importance to the friendship with Vietnam and hopes to further deepen the newly-established strategic partnership. 

The leaders expressed their joy at the strong and effective development of Vietnam-Australia relations in recent times, saying that the regular exchange of high-ranking delegations at all levels reflected the two sides’ respect for the reinforcement of their political trust and mutual understanding. 

They assessed that the two countries have reaped encouraging outcomes in their economic ties.

The countries’ two-way trade value hit nearly 6.5 billion USD in 2017. Australia has poured 1.8 billion USD in 400 projects in Vietnam, ranking 19th out of 129 countries and territories investing in the country. 

At the talks between President Tran Dai Quang and Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove 

They agreed to continue organising activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties, thus raising public awareness of the bilateral relations. 

The leaders stressed the need to improve the efficiency of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and promote newly-formed cooperation mechanisms such as Economic partnership, Innovation partnership, Agriculture partnership, and the meeting of Foreign Ministers. 

The two sides should make more efforts to push pillar cooperation fields such as security-defence; economy-trade; science-technology; education-training; and development aid, towards expanding their collaboration in other potential domains, they said. 

President Quang suggested the two sides seriously take into account trade barriers, which can affect their key exports; and devise policies encouraging Vietnamese and Australian enterprises to increase investment in the fields of Australia’s strength and Vietnam’s demand, including energy, infrastructure, telecommunication, finance-banking, mining, manufacturing, hi-tech agriculture, education and tourism. 

The Governor-General affirmed Australia will continue to promote security-defence links with Vietnam, focusing on training, and joining the UN peacekeeping force, adding that his country will also actively support Vietnam in solving post-war UXO consequences.

The country will also provide Vietnam with information related to missing Vietnamese officers in the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two sides in 2015, he added. 

President Quang thanked the Australian side for continuing to give Vietnam a priority in its official development assistance (ODA) provision, affirming that Australia-funded development projects have been implemented effectively in Vietnam. 

After the construction of My Thuan bridge, Cao Lanh bridge built with Australian funding in the Mekong Delta region will be put into use on May 27, marking itself as a vivid symbol of Vietnam-Australia friendship, he stressed. 

The leaders also highlighted the potential for the two countries to expand their collaboration in education-training, culture exchange, tourism, labour and sports, saying that these can directly help enhance the friendship between the two sides. 

President Quang noted a sharp increase in the number of Vietnamese coming to study in Australia, which has reached nearly 30,000 presently.

He mentioned the fact that around 1,000 Australians visited Vietnam under exchange programmes and the New Colombo Plan.

Meanwhile, the Australian leader showed his impression at the number of 400,000 Australians visiting Vietnam in 2017.

They agreed to make it easy for the two countries’ airline firms to open more direct flights connecting their big cities, and encourage their citizens to join the Vietnam-Australia Work and Holiday programme. 

During their talks, the leaders also compared notes on regional and international issues of common concern.

They also affirmed mutual support at regional and international forums, especially the UN, ASEAN, and cooperation mechanisms led by ASEAN; consistent stance in East Sea-related issues; and close cooperation in implementing the freshly-signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The Australian leader invited President Quang to visit Australia in a convenient time.

Vietnam, Australia resolved to advance relationship

President Tran Dai Quang (right) and Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove meet with the press following their talks on May 24 

Vietnam and Australia will work together to consolidate political and strategic trust through regular exchange of all-level visits and meetings, and via all channels, in order to make their relationship on par with the strategic partnership, said President Tran Dai Quang. 

The President and visiting Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove met the press on May 24 following their talks. 

Quang said the two sides consented to expand cooperation between localities while stepping up people-to-people exchange. 

The leaders also agreed to deepen bilateral affiliation in national defence and security in the spirit of carrying forward fruitful ties in current cooperative spheres like training and operations, while expanding cooperation to other potential sectors, he added. 

Australia will help Vietnam deal with bomb and mine issues, and provide information about Vietnamese soldiers missing in action during the war in Vietnam. 

President Quang stressed that both sides will seriously weigh up trade barriers that may affect exports of each other. They will also devise policies encouraging and supporting businesses to invest in each other’s markets, thus creating breakthroughs in bilateral trade and investment ties in the time to come. 

He went to say that Vietnam highly valued Australia’s continued official development assistance (ODA) for the country, with a prominent example being the Cao Lanh Bridge in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap funded by Australian ODA capital. The bridge is expected to be put into service on May 27, 2018. 

Besides, the two sides will intensify partnerships in cooperative areas that have direct influence on the bilateral friendship and mutual understanding like education-training, science-technology, culture, sports, tourism and labour. 

Currently, nearly 30,000 Vietnamese students are studying in Australia. Meanwhile, close to 1,000 Australian students have come to Vietnam under the New Colombo Plan. 

In 2017, nearly 400,000 Australians visited Vietnam and more than 200 Vietnamese citizens registered to work in Australia under the Work and Holiday Programme. 

These are important factors contributing to boosting the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, President Quang said. 

He also informed that their talks also dealt with regional and international issues of shared concern. The two sides agreed that there remain factors that may adversely impact peace, stability and cooperation in the region, including terrorism, cross-border crime, and cyber and maritime security. 

The Vietnamese President said the two sides had pledged to continue their close coordination at regional and international forums, including the UN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN-led institutions. They will also coordinate stances in the East Sea issue and implementing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to which both countries are signatories. 

Cosgrove highlighted thriving economic ties between Vietnam and Australia, in terms of trade, investment and development cooperation. 

Two-way trade hits 11.9 billion USD, he said, noting that Vietnam is Australia’s 15th largest trade partner.

The Governor-General said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are scheduled to inaugurate the Cao Lanh Bridge, which was built with 160 million USD from the Australian Government, on May 27. 

He described the bridge as a symbol of the Australian Government’s support for infrastructure development in Vietnam in order to improve living standards of local residents and facilitate economic development in the Mekong Delta region. 

The leader informed the press that at the end of this year, Australia will help Vietnam send the first Vietnamese peacekeepers to South Sudan. 

Host and guest shared the view that there are bright prospects for Vietnam and Australia to enhance bilateral cooperation in the time ahead, he said.

Vietnam proud to have a friend like Australia: President Tran Dai Quang

President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove toast the development of the two countries' relations at the banquet in Hanoi on May 24

Vietnam is very proud to have a friend and a partner like Australia, President Tran Dai Quang said at a banquet in honour of Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove and his spouse in Hanoi on May 24.

The Governor-General of Australia and his spouse are paying a State visit to Vietnam from May 23 to 26 on the occasion of the 45th founding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

At the banquet following an official welcome ceremony, President Quang said weathering many difficulties and challenges, bilateral relations have grown steadier and stronger than ever. The year 2018 has witnessed many important events in Vietnam-Australia relations, including the elevation of their ties to a strategic partnership last March.

Reviewing the outcomes in bilateral connections, he noted with satisfaction the increasingly strengthened mutual understanding and political trust between the two countries’ leaders and people.

He voiced his belief that the visit by the Governor-General will be successful, thus helping foster the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership, bringing more practical benefits for the countries’ people and contributing to regional peace, stability, cooperation and development.

In his speech, Governor-General Cosgrove expressed his delight at his first visit to Vietnam, adding that the trip amid the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties is also an occasion for the two countries to move towards new frameworks in their strategic partnership.

He affirmed that Australia is also proud to have a close friend and partner like Vietnam to join hands for the sake of peace and prosperity in the two countries, as well as in the region and the world.

Vietnamese and Australian scientists and researchers are cooperating to apply their research findings to life. Servicemen and servicewomen of the countries are working together to prepare for Vietnam’s first deployment of military officers to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. Meanwhile, their businesses are boosting partnerships in new spheres such as renewable energy and agriculture, he noted.

The visiting leader said bilateral connections will further develop in both depth and width in the time ahead, and these linkages will be a solid foundation for the two countries to build a brighter future.

Also on May 24 morning, Governor-General Cosgrove laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs and paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at the Vietnamese late leader’s mausoleum in Hanoi.

Vietnam and Australia officially set up the diplomatic relationship on February 26, 1973. Over the last 45 years, they have built strong relations, especially since the establishment of a comprehensive partnership in 2009 and the signing of a declaration on an enhanced comprehensive partnership in March 2015. In March 2018, the countries elevated their ties to the strategic partnership.

Vietnamese NA supports strategic partnership with Australia

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) and Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove 

The Vietnamese National Assembly supports strengthening strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia, creating a new important framework to push forward their deeper and more practical ties, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan told Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove during a meeting in Hanoi on May 24. 

Ngan said following her Australia visit in 2017, she directed the NA’s Committee of External Relations, ministries and agencies concerned to implement signed agreements between the two nations, especially in training, agriculture, transport, mining, and national defence-security. 

She expressed her delight at the growing ties between the Vietnamese NA and Australian Parliament, bilaterally and multilaterally on the basis of signed agreements with the Australia House of Representatives in 2009 and the Australian Parliament in 2013. 

Both sides have facilitated the exchange of all-level visits and overseen the implementation of signed agreements between the two governments. 

In particular, the two legislatures established friendly parliamentarians’ groups which will build cooperation plans to foster bilateral ties, including that between the two law-making bodies. 

According to her, the Governor will attend events in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Following the visit, the Australian Foreign Minister plans to arrive in Vietnam to attend a ceremony inaugurating Cao Lanh bridge which is funded by Australia. 

“These are meaningful activities to realize Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership and reinforce the friendship and mutual understanding between the two people,” she said.

Cosgrove, for his part, wished to witness more trade activities between the two nations. 

As two-way trade of nearly 6.5 billion USD in 2017 was unmatched with the two nations’ existing potentials, he hoped that the figure would increase in the near future. 

He said education is one of the closest bonds between the two countries with over 30,000 Vietnamese students pursuing studies in Australia, and wished that more Vietnamese students will come to the Pacific nation in the coming time. 

Speaking highly of Vietnam’s initiative to assign personnel to the South Sudan for the United Nations peacekeeping mission, he said Australia will offer logistics support to Vietnam to fulfill assigned tasks. 

On the occasion, the host conveyed her thanks to the Australian Parliament for assisting the Vietnamese legislature in successfully organising the 26th annual Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum in January 2018. 

She also asked the Governor-General to convey her invitation to President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia to visit Vietnam.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with Australian Governor-General

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 24 had a meeting with Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove, who is on a State visit to Vietnam from May 23-26.

Expressing his pleasure to meet the Australian Governor-General, Prime Minister Phuc recalled his impression on the land and people of Australia during his official visit to the country to attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in March.

As part of the efforts to deepen the sound bilateral cooperation, the Government leader suggested both sides work to complete the Vietnam-Australia Plan of Action 2016-2019 and accelerate the realization of contents agreed in the joint statement on the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia Strategic Partnership.

New mechanisms and frameworks should be set up to enhance partnerships in the fields of economy, agriculture, innovation, he said, noting that measures to increase two-way trade and investment should be stepped up, including the reduction and elimination of trade barriers and facilitation of activities of both nations’ businesses.

Peter Cosgrove, for his part, expressed his elation to have the first visit to Vietnam on the occasion of 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties and 20th anniversary of defence relations between the two countries.

He agreed with PM Phuc on measures to boost bilateral relations, recommending that both sides need to fully tap their strengths to enhance collaboration in education-training, labour, culture, sports and tourism, and further people-to-people exchange, thus strengthening their friendship and mutual understanding.

He applauded Australia’s continued provision of official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam, which focuses on the sectors of Vietnam’s need like infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, poverty elimination, climate change response, and development of high-quality workforce.

Also, he spoke highly of both sides’ efforts to complete Cao Lanh Bridge on schedule to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

At the meeting, PM Phuc and the Australian guest agreed that political trust has been increasingly tightened thanks to regular delegation exchanges and meetings at all levels.

Regarding regional and international issues, the leaders lauded the Vietnam-Australia sound cooperation at the UN, ASEAN and other multilateral forums, affirming close coordination in dealing with the East Sea issue as well as implementing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP).

Australia is now the eighth biggest trade partner of Vietnam. Two-way trade records annual average growth of over 7 percent, reaching nearly 6.5 billion USD in 2017, a year-on-year rise of 22.2 percent.

The country ranks 19th among 126 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 414 investment projects in industry and construction, processing industry, services, education, and agro-forestry-fisheries.

VNA