Australia Day marked in Ho Chi Minh City

HCM City (VNA) - With a firm foundation from sound bilateral relations and the determination of senior leaders of both sides, Vietnam and Australia will enjoy a stronger partnership in the future, according to Ngo Thi Phuong Thien, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam-Australia Friendship Association in Ho Chi Minh City.

Addressing a ceremony on January 22 in the city to mark Australia Day (January 26), Thien noted that Vietnam and Australia set up a comprehensive partnership in September 2009 that was elevated to a strategic partnership in March 2018.

She said bilateral ties have been expanded in all fields, including politics, economy, trade, investment, security-defence, culture, education, and tourism.

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) and the Vietnam-Australia Friendship Association in HCM City hope to continue to receive cooperation from the Australian Consulate General in the city as well as Australian businesses and organisations to enhance people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in culture, sports, and tourism between the two countries, and foster the solidarity and friendship between the people of HCM City and Australia, she said.

For her part, Julianne Cowley, Australian Consul General in HCM City, said Vietnam and Australia have shared a long-lasting and close friendship and growing partnership in areas such as education, development assistance, trade, and investment.

She said that Australia is proud to be the top choice of Vietnamese students, along with thousands studying Australian programmes in Vietnam.

More than 80,000 Vietnamese who studied in Australia have become a force of connection between the two countries, she noted, with many holding important positions in the city.

She pledged to continue working closely with HCM City departments and sectors, including VUFO, in development cooperation programmes, thus further bolstering the partnership./.