At a reception held for Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop  in Hanoi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told his guest that Vietnam wishes to strengthen the comprehensive cooperation with Australia.

>> Australian Governor-General hails ties with Vietnam The Government leader suggested that both sides conduct more mutual visits to boost bilateral cooperation, especially in economics, trade, investment and tourism. PM Dung also asked the two countries further cooperate in defense-security and complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations soon. He expressed his hope that Australia will continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Australia, and providing assistance for Vietnam in education, training, and infrastructure building. The Vietnamese government leader called on Australia to continue to assist ASEAN in the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and in forming a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), as well as ensuring maritime security and safety in the waters. In reply, Julie Bishop said Australia considers its relations with Vietnam as being of great importance, which is demonstrated by her visit to the country that immediately followed her appointment to the post of Foreign Minister.

She also said that the two countries have seen their bilateral ties develop well over the past years, especially in trade, investment, energy and mineral exploitation. Last year saw the two-way trade increase to AU$6 billion from AU$3.3 billion in 2009.  In addition, Australia’s official development assistance (ODA) capital for Vietnam also surged from AU$105.9 million in 2009 to around AU$160 million in 2013. Julie Bishop told her host that Australia supports the maintenance of maritime security and safety in the East Sea, and expressed her hope to promote the cooperation with Vietnam in security, defense, and transnational crime prevention.

The same day, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also had a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, during which they expressed their pleasure at the rapid development in the ties between the two countries, especially since the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership in 2009. The two sides agreed to increase the exchange of high-ranking delegations and conclude the 2014-2016 action program early in order to expand cooperation in politics, security, defense, trade, investment, education-training, tourism and labor.