Sydney (VNA) – Premier of Australia's Victoria state Jacinta Allan said the state considers Vietnamese localities priority partners in its international cooperation during a recent meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam.
Allan noted that Victoria state had opened a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City to promote trade and investment, adding that she wishes to further expand vocational and skills training cooperation between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Lord Mayor of Melbourne City Nicholas Reece told the Ambassador that Vietnam is becoming increasingly important to Melbourne. The Vietnamese community has settled in Melbourne city for a long time, and is developing strongly. A large number of Vietnamese students are studying in Melbourne.
He wished that Vietnamese businesses will open offices and branches in Melbourne city to strengthen connections and expand business between the two sides.
The leader of the Opposition in Victoria, John Pesutto, expressed his optimism about the relationship between the two countries as well as between their localities, noting that strengthening Australia-Vietnam cooperation is a bipartisan consensus in Australia.
He hoped the two countries will expand cooperation in the fields of energy transition and innovation, and supported the further opening of market for each other's agricultural products, as they are also the main exports of Victoria state.
For his part, Ambassador Tam hailed the development momentum of key areas of cooperation between Victoria state and Vietnamese localities, especially with Ho Chi Minh City.
The ambassador proposed that the two sides continue to promote traditional areas of cooperation such as tourism, trade, education and training, and tourism, while expanding their partnership into new areas such as energy conversion, green economy, and digital economy.
Tam also discussed with Victoria state leaders on issues related to the Vietnamese community in Victoria, calling on the Victorian government to continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study, work and contribute to the host locality.
Meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Melbourne, Tam highly appreciated the rapid development in both quantity and quality of Vietnamese associations in the city.
He hoped the associations will strengthen solidarity, support and coordination with each other to constantly enhance the prestige of the Vietnamese community in the host country./.
