Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held a phone conversation with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on May 6, congratulating him on his Labour Party’s victory in the recent federal election.
PM Chinh stressed that the electoral triumph reflects the Australian people’s confidence in the Labour Party and PM Albanese’s leadership capabilities to steer the nation towards stable development.
Praising the strong development in the Vietnam – Australia relations over the recent past, with PM Albanese making significant contributions, PM Chinh urged the Australian Government to continue prioritising Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, in its regional engagement and resource allocation.
Touching upon key cooperation areas including economy, trade, official development assistance, climate change response, and energy transition, the Vietnamese PM expressed appreciation for Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy, which, he said, will strengthen economic cooperation between the two nations.
PM Chinh suggested both countries capitalise on existing multilateral trade frameworks to overcome common challenges, affirming Vietnam's readiness to discuss a bilateral trade and investment agreement to achieve the goal of raising bilateral trade to 20 billion USD and doubling two-way investment. He also called on the Australian Government to further support the Vietnamese community in the country.
PM Albanese, for his part, expressed his desire to substantively advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam in the coming time. The leader shared his admiration for the Vietnamese Party, State, Government and people’s efforts in developing the country into a leading economic centre in the region.
In response to current economic and trade challenges, he laid stress on the significance of protecting the free and open multilateral trading system while enhancing market access for each other's goods and services.
PM Albanese affirmed that the Governor-General and other leaders of Australia are eager to visit Vietnam soon. He agreed on the importance of maintaining exchanges across various channels and levels, particularly through annual high-level meetings between the two Government leaders./.
Vietnam treasures ties with Australia: Deputy Defence Minister
General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence suggested Vietnam and Australia continue to effectively implement their agreed cooperation agenda, with a focus on increasing delegation exchanges and dialogue mechanisms, expanding training, especially in English language and military specialties for Vietnamese personnel and strengthening peacekeeping collaboration.
