At the meeting (Photo: VNA) Sydney (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of ForeignAffairs Bui Thanh Son and her Australian counterpart Penny Wong co-chaired thefourth Vietnam-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Canberra on September12.
They affirmed determination to strengthen bilateralstrategic partnership on the back of long-standing friendship and cooperation.
The two ministers shared the view thatbilateral ties have been growing in various areas. Trade and investment havebecome a spotlight in bilateral ties with two-way trade hitting 9.6 billion USDin seven months of this year, up nearly 40% annually. Progress has been seen inanti-crimes, culture, education, tourism and labour.
They discussed ways to further deepen strategicpartnership, including holding visits at all levels and celebrations for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year, bolstering bilateral economic-trade-investmentties.
Son suggested Australia expand the supply ofofficial development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in new fields of demand, makeit easier for Vietnam’s agro-fisheries to enter Australia, firstly passionfruit, pomelo and fresh shrimp.
Wong promised to offer all possible support toVietnamese firms to do business in Australia as well as step up mutuallybeneficial cooperation in the fields of agriculture, clean energy and ODA.
About labour cooperation, they will revise theMemorandum of Understanding on Agriculture Visa programme to suit newsituation.
On the occasion, Son suggested Australiaincrease quota for Vietnamese citizens to Australia under the Working HolidayVisa programme, as well as create conditions for the Vietnamese community inAustralia to contribute to bilateral ties.
Both sides mulled ways to consolidate ties intraditional fields such as national defence-security, education-training andtourism. They vowed to reinforce coordination in new fields like climate changeresponse, digital transformation, digital economy, energy and food security,and workforce training.
On regional and global issues of sharedconcern, they consented to continue offering mutual support at multilateralorganisations and forums, especially at ASEAN and the United Nations.
Wong affirmed that Australia treasurescomprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN and ASEAN’s central role in the region.She pledged to boost collaboration for the sub-Mekong region’s sustainable developmentwithin the framework of the Mekong-Australia Partnership.
Both ministers also agreed to intensify cooperation at sea to maintain peace and stability in the region and the EastSea./.
