Illustrative image (Photo: internationalaffairs.org.au) Sydney (VNA) – Vietnam is considered one of the successstories in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and represents an idealeconomic partner for Australia, said Dr Jeffrey Wilson, Research Director at thePerth USAsia Centre.
In his article published by the AustralianInstitute of International Affairs on August 25, Wilson said Vietnamhas complementary economic needs, a stable business environment, and ahigh-growing economy driven by youthful demographics and rapid urbanisation andindustrialisation.
However, Vietnampresently accounts for only 1.7 percent of Australia’s two-way trade,indicating there is considerable room for growth.
According to Wilson, Indonesia,Vietnam, and India present themselves as attractive partners for Australia todiversify its economic relationships.
TheAustralian economy now faces the most adverse external economic environment inover a generation. Trade and investment flows – two of the key drivers ofAustralia’s economic performance– will fall dramatically in 2020 and2021. However, the effects of these external shocks are amplified by thelack of diversity in Australia’s trade and investment ties.
Fortunately,the Australian government has many policies in place to develop new trade andinvestment relationships. The recent trade agreement with Indonesia, andeconomic engagement strategies aimed at India, Vietnam, and ASEAN, are leadingexamples. As COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief the risks associated with alack of diversity, they should now be accorded as much higher priority than inprevious times.
AsAustralia begins thinking about its economic recovery, it also needs to thinkabout what kind of connections it wants with international partners. Despiteits many challenges, the crisis offers a historic opportunity to build morediversity and resilience into Australia’s economic relationships as it build apost-COVID-19 future, he said./.
VNA
