Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived in Sydney on March 16,commencing his official visit to Australia at the invitation of hisAustralian counterpart Tony Abbot.
The visit, thesecond of its kind, is expected to consolidate and deepen thecomprehensive partnership between the two countries.
It is also hoped to increase development aid and foreign directinvestment (FDI) between the two countries while expanding bilateralcooperation in agriculture, education, mining, construction, processing,finance and banking, and services.
Vietnam and Australia formed diplomatic relations in 1973. Thetwo countries elevated their relationship to Comprehensive Partnershipin 2009, the benefits of which have been seen across sectors. Both workclosely at regional and international forums such as the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East Asia Summit, and the UnitedNations (UN).
In 2013, Vietnam andAustralia carried out a series of activities to mark the 40thanniversary of their diplomatic relations.
Economically, Australia is Vietnam ’s 8th biggest trade partnerwith trade climbing to roughly 6 billion USD in 2014 from 5.1 billionUSD the year before. The value of trade has increased annually by 10percent over the last decade, with Vietnam recording the tradesurplus. Vietnamese key export staples include crude oil, mobile phonesand spare parts.
Australia officially recognised Vietnam as a market economy at the 14th ASEAN Summit in 2009.
The Southern Pacific country is currently running 320 investmentprojects worth 1.65 billion USD in Vietnam , primarily focused onindustry, construction, services, education, processing andagriculture-forestry-fisheries. Meanwhile, Vietnam is operating 17 FDIprojects in Australia with a combined capital of 137 million USD,mainly in processing and hospitality services.
Vietnam is one of the largest recipients of Australian officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) with over 130 million AUD per year. In the2013-2014 fiscal year, Australia committed over 138.9 million AUD inODA to Vietnam with 141.3 million AUD the following year. It alsopledged a non-refundable aid package of 160 million AUD for Vietnam tobuild the Cao Lanh Bridge , scheduled to be completed in October2017.
In education, Australia iscurrently hosting 30,000 Vietnamese students and has granted 4,000scholarships to Vietnamese students over the past 40 years. The countryhas pledged an additional 1,380 scholarships from 2012-2015, including272 long-term and 88 short-term grants in 2013. The two countries alsosigned an education cooperation agreement for 2013-2018 and established ajoint working group on the field.
Positive developments were also seen in labour, agriculture, tourism and interpersonal exchanges.-VNA
The visit, thesecond of its kind, is expected to consolidate and deepen thecomprehensive partnership between the two countries.
It is also hoped to increase development aid and foreign directinvestment (FDI) between the two countries while expanding bilateralcooperation in agriculture, education, mining, construction, processing,finance and banking, and services.
Vietnam and Australia formed diplomatic relations in 1973. Thetwo countries elevated their relationship to Comprehensive Partnershipin 2009, the benefits of which have been seen across sectors. Both workclosely at regional and international forums such as the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East Asia Summit, and the UnitedNations (UN).
In 2013, Vietnam andAustralia carried out a series of activities to mark the 40thanniversary of their diplomatic relations.
Economically, Australia is Vietnam ’s 8th biggest trade partnerwith trade climbing to roughly 6 billion USD in 2014 from 5.1 billionUSD the year before. The value of trade has increased annually by 10percent over the last decade, with Vietnam recording the tradesurplus. Vietnamese key export staples include crude oil, mobile phonesand spare parts.
Australia officially recognised Vietnam as a market economy at the 14th ASEAN Summit in 2009.
The Southern Pacific country is currently running 320 investmentprojects worth 1.65 billion USD in Vietnam , primarily focused onindustry, construction, services, education, processing andagriculture-forestry-fisheries. Meanwhile, Vietnam is operating 17 FDIprojects in Australia with a combined capital of 137 million USD,mainly in processing and hospitality services.
Vietnam is one of the largest recipients of Australian officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) with over 130 million AUD per year. In the2013-2014 fiscal year, Australia committed over 138.9 million AUD inODA to Vietnam with 141.3 million AUD the following year. It alsopledged a non-refundable aid package of 160 million AUD for Vietnam tobuild the Cao Lanh Bridge , scheduled to be completed in October2017.
In education, Australia iscurrently hosting 30,000 Vietnamese students and has granted 4,000scholarships to Vietnamese students over the past 40 years. The countryhas pledged an additional 1,380 scholarships from 2012-2015, including272 long-term and 88 short-term grants in 2013. The two countries alsosigned an education cooperation agreement for 2013-2018 and established ajoint working group on the field.
Positive developments were also seen in labour, agriculture, tourism and interpersonal exchanges.-VNA
