Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung held separate meetings with Australian Deputy PM Wayne Swan, Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende on the evening of June 26 (local time) on the sidelines of G20 summit in Toronto , Canada.

At his meeting with Australian Deputy PM Wayne Swan, PM Dung expressed his delight at the significant progress in Vietnam-Australia relationship and confirmed Vietnam ’s wish to enhance their comprehensive partnership which was set up during Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh’s official visit to Australia in September 2009.

“ Australia is one of Vietnam ’s leading trade and investment partners,” said the Vietnamese PM, noting that two-way trade value rose by 34 percent year on year to more than 1.2 billion USD in the first four months of this year.

Australia ’s official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam has been effectively used and made positive contributions to the country’s socio-economic development, he added.

Deputy PM Swan confirmed Australia’s wish to closely cooperate with Vietnam and acknowledged the proposals to boost bilateral ties, including mutual recognition of food hygiene and safety and the signing of agreements on recruiting Vietnamese guest workers under the vacation programme as well as Australia’s assistance to Vietnam in personnel training, supply of equipment and the establishment of a verification centre in Vietnam and the active coordination in implementing a memorandum of understanding on education cooperation.

While meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi, PM Dung highlighted Ethiopia ’s role in Africa and said that Vietnam will organise the second Vietnam-Africa international workshop with the theme “Vietnam-Africa: cooperation for sustainable development” from Aug. 17-19, 2010.


PM Dung commended the good and effective tripartite cooperation models between Vietnam and African nations, including Senegal , Mali , Mozambique and Guinea with the assistance of international organisations and developed nations like the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), France , Japan and South Africa .


Ethiopia can join Vietnam in studying and proposing projects for both sides to build feasible projects and seek donors, said the Vietnamese PM.
PM Zenawi pledged to send a delegation to the second Vietnam-Africa international workshop focusing on food security, agricultural cooperation and poverty reduction which are his country’s keen interests.

In a tripartite meeting, PM Dung, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan shared the same view that ASEAN should make active and constructive contributions to the contents of G20 Summit.

ASEAN supports and responds to G20’s efforts in the global economic recovery and facing global challenges and imbalance, they said.

Indonesian President Yudhoyono and ASEAN Secretary-General Pitsuwan voiced their support to Vietnam’s plan to raise its initiative in setting up a pilot mechanism for a close policy coordination between G20 and ASEAN so that non G20 members build a policy coordination interaction mechanism for G20, ASEAN and other blocs, free trade and other economic organisations like the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the African Union (AU).

During his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, both PM Dung and his Dutch counterpart Balkenende expressed their delight at the positive results of their bilateral ties. The Netherlands ranks third among European investors in Vietnam with a total investment capital of 3 billion USD.

The Vietnamese Government attaches importance to its comprehensive cooperation with the Netherlands , its top European trade, investment and economic partner, said the Vietnamese PM.

PM Dung thanked the Netherlands for their coordination with Vietnam in devising a strategic partnership agreement on coping with climate change and water resources management and considered climate change is a priority cooperation field with the Netherlands .

He also proposed the Netherlands , an active EU member, to continue supporting Vietnam in leather-capped shoes issue, the regulation of the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) and the negotiation of the Vietnam-European Union Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and recognising Vietnam ’s market economic regulation.

PM Balkenende said that the Netherlands is interested in cooperation with Vietnam in clean energy, environment and other fields that it has strengths.

Both sides agreed to join other delegations to make active contributions to the contents of the G20 Summit./.