Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s presence at Canberra ’s Fairbairn airport to meet Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, who received a 19-gun welcoming salute, is a sign of increasingly warm relations between Australia and Vietnam , local media reported.

In his article published in The Australian newspaper on Sept. 7, Mark Dodd said Vietnam is a highly valued regional trade partner of Australia , with bilateral trade growing on average about 20 percent over the past five years.

Apart from trade and economic ties, Australia has a big aid programme in Vietnam ranging from infrastructure projects to climate change assistance, education, water and sanitation.

In 2009, official development assistance to Vietnam will total 105 million USD, making the country Australia ’s fifth-largest development partner.

T he newspaper also said that Australia is the biggest destination for Vietnamese private and sponsored tertiary students.

On this occasion, other Australian newspapers such as “Direct Action” and “Green Left Weekly” also ran articles on Vietnam ’s socio-economic achievements and political, economic, trade, investment and education cooperation between the two countries./.