Sydney (VNA) – Australia’s Queensland values its relations with Vietnam and considers the nation a priority market in the Southeast Asia and one of the top five international trade partners of the state, said Trade and Investment Queensland Chief Executive Officer Justin McGowan.
Speaking during a meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Hung Tam on July 9, MacGowan said that he welcomes the increasing attention and presence of Vietnamese businesses in Queensland, including Sofico Group, Vingroup, TH Group and Vietjet Air. He pledged to create favourable conditions for other businesses to promote investment and trade in the state.
At the meeting, the Australian official also pointed out Queensland’s potential and strengths, especially in agriculture, mining, renewable energy and education.
He agreed to coordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia to welcome Vietnamese delegations to Queensland in the coming time. He also hoped the two sides will strengthen activities to promote people-to-people exchanges, especially between friendship parliamentary groups of the two countries.
For his part, Tam appreciated the important position and role of Queensland, stating that the two sides hold much potential for cooperation, especially in trade and investment. Tam wished the two sides will increase two-way investment, including considering promoting investment in new fields such as clean energy and digital transformation, and expanding investment in potential areas including high quality agriculture.
He asked for Queensland’s coordination to support Vietnamese delegations that will visit the state to seek investment and business opportunities in the coming time. The ambassador expressed his wish that the state will hasten the renewal of its cooperation agreements with Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city of Vietnam.
The same day, the Vietnamese diplomat met with Commissioner of the Australian Border Force (ABF) Michael Outram at the ABF office, during which he proposed the two sides continue to coordinate to implement important outcomes achieved during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Australia last March, particularly in security and defence cooperation.
Tam appreciated the results of Outram's visit to Vietnam, and welcomed the signing of a plan on customs investigation collaboration and a Letter of Intent on negotiations on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation between Vietnam's Border Guard Command and the ABF. He hoped that the two sides will soon sign the MoU in the near future.
Tam also asked for the two sides' continued joint work to accelarate the organisation of the first ministerial-level security dialogue in 2024 and expected that ABF will continue to support Vietnam in customs, English language training, crime and illegal migration control./.
