At the ceremony (Photo: VNA) In his remarks, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said the two countries have obtained numerousachievements in their relations, from politics, investment, trade to education,development cooperation, and security - defence.
Economic cooperation is one of thehighlights. Last year, Australia was the seventh largest trading partner ofVietnam, with bilateral trade topping 15.6 billion USD. Australia ranked 20th among 141 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asiannation, with 583 projects worth nearly 2 billion USD. Many big enterprises ofVietnam such as Hoa Phat, Sovico, and VCB are also operating in Australia.
On that basis, trade and investment linksbetween HCM City and Australia are also thriving, he went on, elaborating that annualbilateral trade has surpassed 1.2 billion USD, and Australia now has 274investment projects worth over 200 million USD in the southern metropolis.
HCM City also has dynamic relations intrade, education - training, innovation, culture, tourism, and people-to-peopleexchange with such Australian states as Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland,and the Northern Territory.
Expressing his gratitude to generationsof the two countries’ leaders and people for their unceasing efforts to buildup the bilateral ties, Mai expressed his belief that the dynamic growth of HCM City- Australia relations will greatly contribute to the sustainable development ofthe relationship between the two nations.
Addressing the event, AustralianAmbassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski said that after five decades, thetwo countries have built a special friendship and partnership on the basis ofmutual trust, paving the way for the establishment of the strategic partnershipin 2018 and the commitment to upgrade the relationship to a comprehensivestrategic partnership in the future.
As a trade and economic centre and ahub for people-to-people links, HCM City plays a critically important role inthe Australia - Vietnam relations. About 75% of Australia’s investment inVietnam is poured into the southern region, concentrating in HCM City and nearbyprovinces. The city has also recorded positive results in education cooperation,as seen in the presence of RMIT University and Western Sydney University,according to the diplomat.
The ambassador said he believed that with thestrong connections between the two countries’ citizens and the two governments, the bilateral relations will develop even more to obtain numerous achievements indifferent fields such as innovation, climate change response, education -training, and defence - security. At the same time, HCM City will maintain its core rolein the enhancement of those ties./.
VNA
