PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese during Vietnam visit (Photo: VNA) Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse are scheduled to attend a special summit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the ASEAN - Australia dialogue relations, and pay an official visit to Australia starting March 5 at the invitation of his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.
Talking to Vietnam News Agency ahead of the trip, Hal Hill, an emeritus professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, said the two countries now share close relations, the Vietnamese community in Australia is relatively large, while bilateral trade has been growing strongly over the recent past.
He noted that Australia views Vietnam as an economic “star” in Asia. From one of the world’s poorest countries in the 1980s, since the Doi moi (Renewal) policy was implemented, especially in this century, Vietnam has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. Besides, from a low-income nation, it has become a middle-income economy attractive to many international investors.
In the future, the Southeast Asian nation is likely to welcome more investors from around the world, he opined, expressing his optimism about the future of its economy though challenges are still ahead.
Hal Hill added that to him, Vietnam is one of highly impressive success stories.
Speaking highly of the development of Vietnam and its relations with Australia, Greg Earl, former member of the Australia - ASEAN Council and former Southeast Asia correspondent at The Australian Financial Review, perceived that the two countries’ relations form one of the most outstanding chapters of Australia’s foreign policy towards to the region in recent years.
Vietnam and Australia have found out more space for cooperation in both security and economic affairs, with their cooperation speed much faster than many people’s predictions. Vietnam has established itself as a stable and trustworthy diplomatic partner, he went on.
The Vietnamese community in Australia has also played a major role in promoting bilateral cooperation and enhancing the two countries’ cohesion, the expert said.
To maintain and further bolster the current sound relations, Earl suggested that the two countries step up connections within bilateral as well as ASEAN - Australia frameworks to strengthen economic and security ties. They should also foster people-to-people exchanges in the fields of education and employment.
Basing on the areas both countries are interested in, they should form reciprocal economic links like the connections Australia has had with North Asian countries, according to the expert./.
VNA
