Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received in Hanoi on August 29, Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

The Prime Minister highly valued the outcomes of the freshly-finished talks between the defence ministers of Vietnam and Australia and close cooperation between the two ministries.

He said the visit’s results will contribute to promoting multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

The Vietnamese-Australian partnership is developing in politics, diplomacy, economics, military, education, science-technology and culture, according to the PM. Both sides have also coordinated and supported each other at international and regional forums.

PM Dung said he wants both sides to continue their efforts to lift the two countries’ cooperative ties to a new height for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

He asked the two sides to work closely in organising activities to celebrate the two countries’ diplomatic ties in 2013.

Regarding defence cooperation, the PM proposed both sides actively implement their agreements, particularly agreements reached at the talks between Ministers Phung Quang Thanh and Stephen Smith during the visit.

Minister Stephen Smith said his current visit aims to further enhance cooperation between the two countries and the two defence ministries in particular.

According to the minister, the cooperation between the two ministries has been effective in various aspects, especially in peace keeping and training.

The Australian Defence Ministry will closely work with the Vietnamese Denfence Ministry to implement their cooperation agreements on defence, Minister Stephen Smith affirmed.

He said he wishes the Vietnamese Government would always support the two ministries in cooperative activities to further their cooperation in an in-depth and effective manner, thus positively elevating the two countries’ wide-ranging cooperation.-VNA