PM Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse say goodbye to representatives of Vietnamese people in Australia before leaving Canberra for an official visit to New Zealand on March 9. (Photo: VNA) Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s resident correspondents in Australia, Prof. Carl Thayer from the Australian Defence Force Academy, the University of New South Wales, saidthe upgrade of the bilateral ties to the comprehensive strategic partnershipreflects the mutual respect for each other’s political regimes. Economicbenefits have brought the two countries closer together for the sake of abroader strategic interest.
The newpartnership will generate opportunities for more intensive discussions aboutvarious issues between Vietnam and Australia, he said, noting that the majorityof Australian people support the reinforcement of the ties with Vietnam, especiallyin education.
The scholar held thatAustralia will prioritise cooperation with Vietnam and promote dialogue. Thetwo sides can jointly put forth and share ideas at different dialogue levels. Allof these will serve the two countries’ shared future amid such challenges as climatechange, economic uncertainties, and superpowers’ competition facing the world andthe region.
Both sides will jointly gainbenefits if they understand those challenges and find out the best ways for promotingthe most effective cooperation via bilateral and multilateral mechanisms inwhich Vietnam engages and has a strong role to play, Thayer added.
Greg Earl, former member of the Australia -ASEAN Council and former Southeast Asia correspondent at the Australian Financial Review, perceived that the elevationof the bilateral relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership will createa prerequisite for Vietnam and Australia to enhance diplomatic ties morestrongly and hold dialogues on regional issues.
In fact, he noted, the twocountries have found out ways to build closer and closer relations, whichare based on complementary economic policies and the large Vietnamese communitythat has helped deepen Australia’s understanding of the Southeast Asian nation.
The ties with Vietnam form one of the fastest growing foreignrelationships of Australia over the recent past. Despite different politicalregimes, the two countries share many similarities in their foreign policiestowards the region.
In addition,Vietnam is investing in resources of Australia, which in turn is importing moreproducts from Vietnam. This has helped Australian businesses become morefamiliar with Vietnam, according to Earl.
Voicing hisdelight at the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership, Hal Hill, Emeritus Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy at theAustralian National University, described this as a positive sign for thefuture of both countries. Though they are not geographically close to eachother, they can seize this opportunity to develop durable relations and mutualunderstanding in all aspects.
He said Vietnam has enjoyedsound relations with most countries and secured an important stature in the internationalarena, setting an example for other countries to follow.
Besides, Vietnam isconsidered as an economic “star” in Southeast Asia and the most successfulcountry in this region in terms of entering the global production network – thefastest growing part of international trade. Many multinationals have come to Vietnamand carried out production activities here.
Given this, Hill held thatVietnam is a great opportunity for Australia.
The professor said in terms of political and social aspects,Vietnam is a dynamic and active country which used to be one of the poorest inthe world in the 1980s but thanks to Doi moi (Renewal), it has established itselfas a diverse economy with large rice exports and successful agriculture andfisheries.
With PM Chinh’s visit and such optimistic signs, a new erahas opened for closer relations between Vietnam and Australia, he remarked./.
VNA
