Canberra (VNA) - Vice President of the National Assembly Nguyen Doan Anh and Deputy Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Sharon Claydon discussed measures to strengthen cooperation between the two legislatures during their meeting in Canberra on August 12.
The two sides shared the delight at the positive developments in the Vietnam-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
They highlighted the role of parliamentary friendship groups and bilateral and multilateral mechanisms in promoting ties between the Vietnamese National Assembly and Australian Parliament.
Expressing her delight at the strong growth of bilateral ties, Sharon Claydon, who is also Chairwoman of the Australia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group, said the group now has more than 60 members from various political parties, reflecting broad interest in Vietnam within the Australian Parliament.
She highlighted cooperation in trade, education and people-to-people exchanges, noting that Australia’s support in transporting Vietnam’s peacekeeping personnel to South Sudan demonstrated growing political trust between the two countries.
Anh affirmed that the state visit to Australia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President of Vietnam To Lam marks an important milestone, providing fresh momentum for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to become deeper, more substantive and more effective.
He said the Vietnamese National Assembly has recently established the Vietnam-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, comprising 13 members and chaired by NA Vice President Nguyen Hong Dien.
He proposed that the two friendship groups soon launch connectivity programmes and promote exchanges among specialised committees, women parliamentarians, young lawmakers and local legislators, while sharing experience in improving legislation and oversight in emerging areas such as the digital economy, green transition, renewable energy and climate change response.
Noting that Australia is Vietnam’s seventh-largest trading partner and Vietnam is Australia’s 10th-largest, he called on both sides to make effective use of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework and free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with a view to raising bilateral trade to 20 billion USD in 2026.
On technology and innovation, Anh welcomed the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia Strategic Technologies Centre in Hanoi to promote cooperation in 5G and 6G telecommunications, artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors, and called for stronger links among universities, research institutes and businesses of the two countries.
Regarding the East Sea, he urged both sides to continue coordinating efforts to promote and maintain peace, security, stability and freedom of navigation and overflight, and settle disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Agreeing with the guest's proposals, Sharon Claydon affirmed that the Australian Parliament looks forward to close coordination with the Vietnamese NA at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and other multilateral forums.
She congratulated Vietnam on assuming the chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, stressing that Australia and Vietnam share a vision of a peaceful world in which international order and the rule of law are respected.
On the occasion, Anh invited Claydon and members of the Australia-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group to visit Vietnam in the near future./.
