Hanoi (VNA) - General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), and Deputy Minister of National Defence, hosted Australia's Chief of Air Force (CAF) Air Marshal Stephen Chappell in Hanoi on October 13, during which the two sides agreed to further promote defence cooperation in the time to come.
The Vietnamese officer affirmed that Vietnam always treasures relations with Australia, and highly values Australia’s role and potential in the international and regional affairs. He expressed his delight at the elevation of bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in March 2024, which paves the way for stronger cooperation across fields, including defence.
Cuong acknowledged effective and practical defence cooperation between the two countries in recent times, based on the Memorandum of Understanding for Defence Cooperation in 2010 and the Declaration on Joint Visions for Enhancing Defence Cooperation between the two nations in 2018, with notable cooperation areas such as delegation exchanges, dialogues and consultations, training, UN peacekeeping, experience sharing among military services, post-war consequence remediation, and multilateral defence cooperation, particularly within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+).
For his part, Chappell, updated the host on his earlier productive and practical talks with Major General Vu Hong Son, Commander of the Air Defense–Air Force, stressing that the outcomes lay a solid foundation for deepening future cooperation between the two forces.
He proposed that Australia and Vietnam further enhance defence cooperation in the coming period, prioritising training, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, military medical support, and search-and-rescue operations.
Cuong showed his pleasure at the notable achievements in bilateral air force cooperation and highlighted the potential for stronger collaboration in the future. He took the occasion to thank the Royal Australian Air Force for dispatching transport support seven times to help Vietnam deploy its Level-2 Field Hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, contributing to strengthening bilateral peacekeeping cooperation and supporting global peace efforts.
The VPA and the Australian Defence Force will continue to enhance cooperation between their services, aligned with each side’s demands and capabilities, thus further strengthening mutual understanding and trust, Cuong said.
The Vietnamese officer affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence supports and encourages the air forces of both countries to strengthen delegation exchanges, promote training cooperation, and share expertise in air force. He hoped that the Department of Defence, Defence Force, Royal Australian Air Force, and Australian defence enterprises will continue to support Vietnam in organising international defence exhibitions in the future./.
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As of early this year, Australia ranked among the leading countries in direct investment in Vietnam with 670 projects worth more than 1.86 billion USD, and provided 3 billion AUD in official development assistance (ODA) over the past five decades. Bilateral trade reached 14 billion USD in 2024. Currently, Australia is Vietnam’s ninth-largest trading partner, while Vietnam ranks 10th among Australia’s major partners.
