Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese attend the third ASEAN-Australia summit in Indonesia (Photo: VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhmet his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Jakarta, Indonesia onSeptember 7, on the occasion of their attendance at the 43rd ASEANSummit and related summits.
Both PMs praised the continued exchange of delegations andhigh-level contacts between the two countries, as well as the effective cooperationin various areas in economy, trade, investment, national defence-security, labour,education and training, agriculture, sci-tech, tourism, aviation, locality-to-localityand people-to-people exchanges.
Albanese reaffirmed that Australia attaches great importance to enhancing relations with Vietnam. He wished to welcome Party GeneralSecretary Nguyen Phu Trong to Australia soon and suggested completing thenecessary internal procedures to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership at the appropriate time.
The Australian side is committed to prioritising official development assistance(ODA) to Vietnam, especially in areas of Vietnam’s need such as climate changeadaptation, energy transition, digital transformation, and digital economy.
The Australian PM also took note of PM Chinh’s proposals regardingincreased labour cooperation, education and training, and supply of morescholarships to the Vietnamese students.
The two sides vowed to continueworking closely together and making active contributions to promoting dialogue,cooperation and trust building through ASEAN-led mechanisms, on the basis of respect for ASEAN's central role and consultations with ASEAN, for the sake ofpeace, stability and development in the region and the world.
They also pledged to continue supporting ASEAN's efforts tonarrow the development gap and assist less-developed regions, including theMekong sub-region.
The two countries will also partner with Laos tosuccessfully organise the Climate Change and Energy Transition Conference inHanoi later this year.
The Australian PM reiterated his invitation to PM Chinhto visit Australia and attend the ASEAN-Australia Commemorative Summit in March2024. PM Chinh accepted the invitation with pleasure./.
