Vietnam hopes the Australian House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Anna Burke will pave the way for Australian businesses to pour investment into Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Le Thanh Hai made the suggestion while receiving the visiting Speaker of the House Anna Burke in Ho Chi Minh City on May 24.

Expressing delight at the visit, especially as the two countries are celebrating their 40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Hai said that the visit is an important milestone, helping raise their bilateral ties to a new height.

Briefing the guest on the city’s socio-economic situation and foreign direct investment in the past time, the secretary revealed that his city is running 111 projects with more than 200 million USD from Australian companies and investors. The RMIT University project in particular is seen as a successful model in the city, he added.

Highly valuing the city’s role in the nation’s socio-economic development, Speaker Anna Burke said that her country is keen to bolster ties with Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. As the year 2013 marks the 40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties, this is an opportunity for the two countries to further consolidate the fine relations, she added.

Showing her delight with Vietnam ’s positive development, attributing it to the cooperation between the two countries, the guest added that both sides should diversify cooperation in other areas in the time to come.

Australian enterprises operating in Ho Chi Minh City are all satisfied with the city’s favourable investment environment, Burke said.

During her visit to the city, the speaker also participated in a photo exhibition on Australia’s indigenous culture and visited Australia-invested RMIT University in Phu My Hung urban area.

On the day, the Australian House Speaker left HCM City to wrap up her three-day official visit to Vietnam.-VNA