Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong at the meeting in Hanoi on August 22 (Photo: VNA) Welcoming Wong on her second visit to Vietnam as the ForeignMinister of Australia, PM Chinh noted with satisfaction the vigorous growth ofthe countries’ relations, especially their increasingly enhanced politicaltrust and the flourishing ties in economy - trade, education, culture, labour,people-to-people exchanges, and locality-to-locality links.
He asked the foreign ministries of Vietnam and Australia to keepcoordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to effectively carry out thereached agreements and signed documents while developing concrete jointprojects and activities in order to further intensify cooperation, create asolid stepping stone for bilateral relations to reach a new height, and properlyprepare for coming high-level mutual visits.
The two countries should strengthen educational, labour,cultural, and people-to-people ties; encourage their enterprises to expandinvestment in the fields they are strong at; and bolster partnerships in suchnew areas as climate change response, energy transition, green growth, anddigital transformation, he said.
The Government leader also thanked Australia for its precious supportfor Vietnam via official development assistance (ODA) and scholarships for Vietnamesestudents and postgraduates.
For her part, Wong affirmed that Australia treasures the twocountries’ strategic partnership.
She called on both sides to further strengthen cooperation tolift bilateral relations to a new level in the time ahead, particularly in thepillars of politics - diplomacy, security -defence, economy - trade -investment, science - technology, and innovation.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade willcoordinate closely with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrangevisits and meetings between the countries’ senior leaders in the coming time,she added.
On this occasion, the minister announced a new aid package worthover 94 million AUD (60.3 million USD) for climate change response in the MekongDelta of Vietnam.
Talking about some regional and international issues, Wongstressed that her country respects the centrality of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) and the recently established comprehensive strategic partnershipwith the bloc.
Australia continues giving priority to the cooperation with theMekong sub-region and attaches importance to cooperation so as to help withregional peace, stability and balance and the adherence to international law,according to the official./.
VNA
