Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet (Photo: VNA)The trip from March 5 to 11 is madeat the invitation of Australian PM Anthony Albanese and New Zealand PM ChristopherLuxon.
Talking to the media, Viet said thefirst special thing of this tour is that 2024 marks 50 years since theestablishment of the ASEAN - Australia dialogue relations, follows the 50th anniversary of Vietnam - Australia diplomatic ties in 2023, and is ahead of the50th anniversary of the Southeast Asian country’s relations with NewZealand next year.
This is the first visits by aVietnamese PM to Australia and New Zealand in seven years and also the first byChinh to the two countries as the Government leader of Vietnam, Viet noted.
The second special thing is the soundrelations between ASEAN and Australia over the past 50 years as seen in their increasinglyenhanced political trust and fruitful partnerships in all fields, includingtrade, economic, cultural, and social affairs.
ASEAN countries considered Australiaas one of the comprehensive strategic partners boasting substantive andeffective cooperation with members of the bloc, the official said.
Given this, he went on, the summit isexpected to be a good occasion for ASEAN and Australian leaders to review the50-year bilateral relations, especially the implementation of their comprehensivestrategic partnership set up in 2021.
This is also a chance for the leadersto discuss vision, orientations, and concrete measures for expanding ties inthe time ahead. The two sides, particularly Australia, are set to propose newcooperation initiatives, thus creating more resources and basis for the ASEAN -Australia ties to grow more strongly in the coming time, according to Viet.
Highlighting the strides in theVietnam - Australia relations over the last half a century, he said PM Chinh’sofficial visit is an occasion for the two countries to look back on thedevelopment of their ties, especially in the implementation of the bilateral strategicpartnership as well as the high-level agreements reached during the AustralianGovernor-General and PM’s trips to Vietnam in 2023 and National AssemblyChairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s visit to Australia in 2022.
Duringthis visit, the two sides are scheduled to outline cooperation orientations forthe time ahead, with an emphasis on trade and investment; education - training,including vocational training; science - technology; innovation; and newimpetuses like digital economy, green economy, energy transition, and renewableenergy.
Besides,the countries will work towards elevating bilateral relations to a new height,he added.
Apart from Australia, New Zealand isalso an important strategic partner of Vietnam in the South Pacific,Viet remarked, underlining the long-standing and fruitful connections invarious fields such as education - training, gender equality, development, andagriculture.
During PM Chinh’s official visit, the two countries will continue exploringmeasures for further strengthening cooperation in such areas as trade,investment, people-to-people links, labour, education - training, and agriculture,particularly new technologies for agriculture and ways to expand their marketsto each other’s high-quality agricultural products, the Deputy Ministernoted./.
VNA
