Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse Le Thi Bich Tran, along with their entourage, arrived in Melbourne on Monday evening for the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit and an official visit to the country at the invitation of his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.

Welcoming the Vietnamese delegation at Melbourne Airport were Australian Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten, former leader of the Australian Labor Party from 2013 to 2019, and Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski.

Vietnam's Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam, Vietnamese Consul General in Sydney Nguyen Dang Thang, other officials, and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Australia were also present at the reception. 

The trip takes place in the context of Vietnam and Australia’s 50th anniversary celebration of establishing diplomatic relations, while Australia and ASEAN mark a half century of cooperation in 2024.

As scheduled, PM Chinh will attend sessions of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit themed ‘A Partnership for the Future’ on March 5 and 6, at which the two sides will review their 50-year relationship and work out plans to further promote their comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2021.

Australia is expected to propose new initiatives, which aim to create breakthroughs in the ASEAN-Australia relations to bring the bilateral cooperation to a new height, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

During the two days, the Vietnamese leader will also take part in a number of other bilateral activities with leaders of other countries.

After the summit, PM Chinh will be the guest of the Australian government from March 7 to 9.

During this period, he is scheduled to engage in talks with Australia’s top leaders to enhance and deepen their strategic partnership.

The Vietnamese government chief and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will discuss their cooperation in the coming time, with a focus on enhancing two-way trade and boosting bilateral investment, said Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet.

The two countries will also aim to strengthen cooperation in education and training, science and technology, innovation, digital economy, green economy, energy transition, and renewable energy.

As part of his visit, PM Chinh will attend the Vietnam-Australia business forum, meet with leaders of Australian business associations and leading corporations, and visit an exhibition featuring investment projects in Vietnam, according to the Vietnam News Agency. 

By the end of his trip, PM Chinh and the top Australian leaders will witness the signing of cooperative agreements in various fields, including trade and investment, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, science and technology, minerals, education, innovation, law, and finance, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Vietnam and Australia established diplomatic ties in 1973 and the two nations entered a comprehensive partnership in 2009.

Six years later, the relationship was lifted to an enhanced comprehensive partnership before being upgraded to a strategic partnership in March 2018.

Currently, Australia is Vietnam’s seventh-largest trading partner and Vietnam is Australia’s 10th-largest commercial partner.

Australia, as one of Vietnam’s key bilateral partners, provides the largest non-refundable official development assistance and offers many scholarship programs to Vietnamese students.

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