Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese invited Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to pay an official visit to Australia as a guest of his country’s government which the Vietnamese leader accepted. 

At a reception for the Australian prime minister, also the leader of the Australian Labor Party, who paid an official visit to Vietnam on Saturday and Sunday, Party General Secretary Trong affirmed the importance that Vietnam attaches to the relations with Australia, stressing that the two countries are located in the Asia-Pacific region and share many similarities.

Their bilateral relations have developed strongly over the past 50 years which have expanded and become substantive in many sectors.

People-to-people links are closer with more than 300,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working in Australia.

Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (R) recalls good memories during his earlier visit to Australia. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

With these important building blocks and the huge cooperation potential, the two countries see bright prospects in the future development of their relations, the Vietnamese Party leader said.

He voiced his support for the two countries’ relation development orientations, including elevating their ties to a new height, cooperating more effectively and promoting the implementation of agreements for the sake of the two peoples as well as for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world as a whole.

Australian PM Albanese also expressed his country’s respect for Vietnam’s role and stature and the two sides’ ties.

Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong (R) meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: Danh Khang / Tuoi Tre

During a meeting with Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong on Sunday, the Australian government leader affirmed that Vietnam is Australia's top priority partner in the region and wished to constantly develop the cooperative relations with the Southeast Asian country.

Vietnam will be a priority in the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 that the Australian government is developing, Albanese added.

He also hailed Vietnamese air carries, including Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet, for opening new direct air routes to Australia, which will contribute to boosting cooperation in economy and tourism and exchange activities between the two peoples.

Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong gives Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a send-off. Photo: Danh Khang / Tuoi Tre

In response, Vietnamese State President Thuong highly spoke of the Australian prime minister’s activities during his visit to Vietnam, including engaging in an exchange with the national women’s football teams of the two countries in Hanoi on Sunday, and trying Vietnamese dishes using materials imported from Australia.

State President Thuong said Vietnam is willing to provide highly-skilled laborers in industry, agriculture, and services to Australia and welcomed Australian citizens to participate in work and holiday programs in Vietnam.

This is the second time the two leaders met each other, following a meeting during the coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom in May 2023.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue welcomes Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue also received Australian PM Albanese on Sunday.

They shared the belief that the two countries’ bilateral ties will be lifted to a new level.

NA Chairman Hue suggested the two countries maintain existing supply chains while creating new chains to diversify their markets.

He threw his support behind the enhancement of two countries’ cooperation in trade and investment and called on Australian investors to do business in Vietnam.

PM Albanese welcomed the Vietnamese top legislator’s recommendations and committed to contributing to achieving better cooperation results.

He will promote the dispatch of an Australian parliamentarians’ delegation to the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, scheduled to take place in Hanoi this September.

Vietnam and Australia’s two-way trade totaled some US$16 billion in 2022, up some 30 percent against 2021. 

They are striving to achieve $20 billion in bilateral trade in the coming time.

Australia is one of Vietnam’s largest non-refundable development assistance suppliers. Vietnam received an average AU$92.7 million ($61.3 million) in aid per year from Australia between 2013 and 2019, and AU$78.9 million ($52.2 million) a year during the 2020-22 period.  

As of April 2023, Australia was involved in 596 projects in Vietnam, ranking it the 26th among 143 nations and territories investing in the latter.

Such projects focus on processing, production, lodging services, healthcare, agriculture, and social activities.

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