Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung pays working trip to Australia

At the meeting with host PM Scott Morrison, Dung expressed the Vietnamese Government and people’s sympathies for Australia on the heavy losses caused by recent forest fires.

Valuing his guest’s visit from November 24 to 27, Morrison repeated the pledge by the two countries’ leaders to further enhance the strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation, especially in economy, security – defence, and people-to-people exchange.

Regarding regional and international issues, both sides agreed to further strengthen ties at multilateral forums, share common stances, and work together to promote peace and stability in the East Sea on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The same day, Deputy PM Dung and his Australian counterpart Michael McCormack held talks to look into the countries’ relations, as well as regional and international issues of shared concern.

They expressed their delight at the strong and comprehensive development of Vietnam – Australia relations, particularly since their ties were lifted to the strategic partnership in March 2018.

The Deputy PMs affirmed that both countries will coordinate to effectively implement the agreements between their leaders and the outcomes of the official trip to Vietnam by PM Morrison in August 2019, particularly the target that they will become one of the top 10 trade partners of each other and double bilateral investment as soon as possible.

Dung suggested high-rankings visits and meetings be maintained; the mechanism of annual meetings between their senior leaders be carried out soon; bilateral cooperation mechanisms be implemented regularly, especially at the newly-established foreign, defence and economic ministerial level; and an action programme for implementing the strategic partnership for 2020 – 2023 be built soon.

He also appreciated the Australian Government’s maintenance of development assistance for Vietnam, including in infrastructure development, human resources training, poverty reduction, rural development, and climate change response.

The official expressed his hope that Australian businesses will invest more in other fields that match their country’s strength and Vietnam’s demand like energy, mining, digital economy, telecommunications, and tourism.

The two Deputy PMs agreed to increase sharing experience and boost cooperation in transport development, urban planning, and environmental protection.

For his part, McCormack promised to actively consider Vietnam’s proposal about the review and amendment of the 1995 air transport agreement to facilitate the opening of more direct routes between the two sides, thus meeting the growing demand of both economies and peoples.

He also vowed to continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Australia, thereby contributing to each country’s development as well as the bilateral friendship and cooperation.

Discussing regional and global issues, the Deputy PMs noted with satisfaction their countries’ fruitful cooperation at multilateral forums, particularly the UN, the ASEAN-led mechanisms, and regional free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

They shared the view on the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, along with the respect for law, in the East Sea.

McCormack affirmed that Australia will support and coordinate with Vietnam when the latter serves as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020 – 2021.

At the meetings with Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews and Minister for Agriculture Bridget McKenzie, Deputy PM Dung asked relevant agencies of the countries to work closer to better the connections in scientific research, innovation, and intellectual property within both bilateral and multilateral frameworks.

McKenzie pledged to actively consider Vietnam’s proposal about the facilitation of Vietnamese agro-aquatic products’ access to the Australian market. She said she and her Vietnamese counterpart will discuss this matter and other issues at their meeting in Australia in February 2020.