The Vietnam-Australia relationship is expected to be elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which demonstrates their high political trust, an expert has said.
| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese during their meeting in Cambodia last year.__Photo: VNA |
The advancement will help deepen the existing cooperation pillars, while expanding the collaboration to such new areas as climate change response, digital transformation, green economy and green energy, Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai, from the Centre for Policy Futures at the University of Queensland of Australia, told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s correspondents in Sydney ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Vietnam from June 3-4.
According to the researcher, since Vietnam and Australia established a strategic partnership five years ago, their cooperation in the three pillars of economy, trade and investment; education-training; and national defense and security has made impressive progress.
Australia is now Vietnam’s seventh biggest trade partner, while Vietnam is Australia’s 10th biggest trade partner, he said, adding that their bilateral trade was valued at some USD 16 billion in late 2022, and USD 3.4 billion in the first quarter of this year.
Australia is running more than 550 projects worth nearly USD 2 billion in the Southeast Asian nation. Meanwhile, Vietnam has poured nearly USD 600 million into over 80 projects in Australia.
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| Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai, from the Center for Policy Futures at the University of Queensland of Australia, in the interview with the Vietnam News Agency's correspondent.__Photo: VNA |
The third Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting was held last April after the Vietnam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy was approved in 2021, putting forth measures to boost the bilateral economic ties.
Regarding cooperation in education-training, Hai said as of December 2022, the number of Vietnamese students in Australia stood at 22,000, accounting for 4 percent of international students in the country, making Vietnam among the top five countries sending students to Australia.
For collaboration in national defense-security, the researcher noted that the two countries have signed many cooperation documents, established mechanisms, and organized meetings at different levels, focusing on humanitarian and relief aid.
The two countries inked the Declaration on Joint Visions for Enhancing Defense Cooperation in 2018, which emphasizes the expansion of cooperation in navigation and peacekeeping.
They held the first security dialogue at the deputy-ministerial level in 2018, the second in December 2019 and the third in February 2023 after more than three years of hiatus due to COVID-19, said Hai.
The researcher also emphasized the need to promote cultural exchanges in order to bring the two countries closer, and suggested Australia present Vietnam with kangaroos as a symbol of their cultural ties.-(VNA/VLLF)
