Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 12, 2022, (Photo: VNA)In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Dr.Nguyen Hong Hai, a researcher at the Centre for Policy Futures under theUniversity of Queensland in Australia, gave assessments on prominent cooperationareas between the two countries.
According to Hai, Vietnam – Australia tradeand investment cooperation has developed strongly. The two countries realised theirgoal in 2022, becoming one of the top 10 trading partners of each other despite theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the two previous years.
Australia is one ofthe foreign education markets attracting the most Vietnamese students, while Vietnamhas also become an increasingly popular destination for Australian students tojoin short courses and student exchange programmes under the “New Colombo Plan” programme, he said.
Political, security anddefence cooperation demonstrates the increasing trust between Vietnam andAustralia under the framework of comprehensive partnership and strategicpartnership, he stressed.
During Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to Vietnam in 2019, the twocountries stated that they respect not only independence, sovereignty andterritorial integrity but also the political systems of each other. They also set up an annual foreign ministerial-levelmeeting mechanism to strengthen political cooperation in foreign and regionalaffairs.
Cao Lanh bridge in Dong Thap province funded by the Australian government importantly contributes to the socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta region and the country in general. (Photo: VNA)Defence exchanges between Vietnam and Australia took place in many forms,including friendship visits by warships of the Royal Australian Navy to Ho ChiMinh City, Da Nang and Khanh Hoa. The two sides also enhanced informationexchange and security cooperation, Hai said, noting that such activities takeplace only between strategic partners with high political trust.
Hai said there are sixfactors contributing to the establishment and development of the relationshipbetween the two countries, namely the strategic vision and politicaldetermination from both sides; the demand of each country coming from nationalinterests; parallel interests and similarities, especially on issues ofstrategic interests, core interests, views on security, peace, and regional andworld order; opportunities and complementarity in economic and trade cooperation; the bonds between the Vietnamese community in Australia and Vietnam as well as the host country; and trends and movements in international relations in the region and in theworld.
According Hai, Vietnamand Australia should further expand cultural and art cooperation because thisis the most durable link which can enhance intimacy in the bilateral relations.
He cited NationalAssembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s statement during his visit to Australia inNovember 2022 as saying that cultural and artistic exchange is an integral partof the people-to-people exchange - one of the pillars of the bilateral relations.
There remains a huge prospectfor the two sides to enlarge their cooperation in the future, Hai said, addingthat the two countries have similar views and have agreed on the need to ensurefreedom and security of aviation and navigation, and compliance withinternational law in the East Sea, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea (UNCLOS).
Regarding the effortsof the two nations to reach climate goals, Hai said Australia can supportVietnam to achieve its goals of reducing emissions and developing a green andclean economy to contribute to global climate change adaptation efforts.
In the coming time, the two countries should focus their strategic cooperationon such key areas as innovation, especially digital technology; national defenceand security; cultural cooperation; and people-to-people exchange, he stressed./.
VNA
