Canberra (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull signed a joint statementon the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia Strategic Partnership followingtheir talks in Canberra, Australia on March 15 as part of the Vietnamese PM’s officialvisit.

At the talks, PM Turnbull showed his pleasure to hostthe Vietnamese Government leader following their previous meeting at the APECEconomic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam in November 2017, and at a time whenthe two sides are celebrating their 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

He said that he is impressed by the VietnameseGovernment’s efforts in socio-economic development and internationalintegration, especially the country’s successful organization of the APEC Year2017.

PM Phuc congratulated Australia on important achievementsover the past year, especially in economy, noting his belief that Australiawill continue growing in a sustainable and prosperous manner, with higher roleand position in the region and the world.

The two sides shared the delight at the strong and substantialprogress of the Vietnam-Australia partnership over the past 45 years, with strengthenedpolitical trust and strategic interest sharing, which has paved the way forthem to lift up bilateral ties to strategic partnership.

They agreed to increase the exchange of high-level delegationsthrough all channels of party, state, government and parliament as well aspeople-to-people contacts.

In order to realise the bilateral strategicpartnership dynamically and practically, the two sides concurred to set up contactmechanisms at the level of foreign, defence and economic ministers, whilemaintaining existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the diplomaticand defence strategic dialogues, consular consultations, dialogues onagriculture, education and science-technology.

They will continue implement the Vietnam – AustraliaPlan of Action in the 2016-2019 period, and creating optimal conditions for localitiesof both sides to promote their partnership.

The two PMs lauded the effective and practicalaffiliation in defence and security, which shows the strategic-level politicaltrust, through activities of capacity building, English training, joint drill,information sharing, and cooperation among military forces, especially navalforces, as well as visits of Australian Royal Navy’s ships to Vietnam.

PM Turnbull affirmed that Australia will expandtraining assistance and support Vietnam in UN peace-keeping operations,initially by providing equipment and logistic services to the Vietnamesemission in South Sudan.

Both sides also agreed to enhance cooperation incoping with common security challenges, including terrorism, trans-nationalcrimes, human trafficking and illegal migration, thus ensuring security in eachcountry and contributing to peace, stability in the region.

The Vietnamese and Australian PMs expressed pleasure atthe growth of two-way trade in recent years with nearly 6.5 billion USD in2017, up 7 percent over the previous year. Australia is now the eighth largesttrade partner of Vietnam, while Vietnam is the 15th biggest tradepartner of Australia.

Bothsides agreed to create maximum conditions for the intensive and comprehensivedevelopment of bilateral economic ties, increasing economic interests in thebilateral relations on the basis of the complementary nature of the twoeconomies.

PMTurnbull affirmed that Australia always welcomes and supports Vietnam’squalified tropical fruits and fresh agricultural products to gain access to itsmarket, and encourages the close cooperation between the two countries’authorised offices, associations and businesses in increasing product qualityand accelerate import procedures, first of all for Vietnam’s fresh shrimp anddragon fruit, and later for other fruits such as longan, rambutan and starapple.

Bothhost and guest stressed the need to expand investment in each other’s strongfields. PM Phuc asked Australia to encourage its businesses to invest inVietnam in energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, knowledge-based economy,and science and technology.

Phucspoke highly of Australia’s official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam,notably the Cao Lanh bridge project which will be inaugurated this year on theoccasion of the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Heasked Australia to continue providing ODA for Vietnam, focusing oninfrastructure, agriculture, rural development, climate change, high-qualityhuman resources development and e-government building.

Thetwo sides emphasised closer connectivity between the two peoples througheducation cooperation, cultural exchanges and tourism development, which servesas a firm foundation for the bilateral Strategic Partnership at present and inthe future.

Theyunderlined the importance of education collaboration, with Australia pledgingto increase the number of scholarships and support Vietnam in official trainingand vocational training. They also agreed to boost linkages between theiruniversities and training establishments.

ThePMs expressed their delight at the increasing number of Vietnamese students inAustralia. Currently, there are nearly 30,000 Vietnamese students in Australia,who have contributed to improving the quality of human resources and developingVietnam’s socio-economic development, together with 60,000 alumni.

TheAustralian leader said he is impressed by bilateral tourism growth, with nearly500,000 Australians visiting Vietnam in 2017. He appreciated Vietnam’sfacilitation of visa granting for Australian citizens.

Thetwo sides agreed to encourage the opening of more direct air routes between thetwo countries’ major cities, and participation in the Vietnam - Australia Workand Holiday programme.

Australiapledges to maintain assistance for Vietnam in high-tech and organic agriculturein the spirit of the Agricultural Partnership, and supports the implementationof the Vietnam-Australia Renovation Partnership Programme.

PMPhuc took this occasion to ask the Australia government to continue creatingfavourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Australia.

Thetwo government leaders also exchanged views on regional and internationalissues. PM Phuc appreciated Australia’s support for Vietnam to successfullyhost the APEC Year 2017, and congratulated Australia on hosting theASEAN-Australia Summit with numerous practical initiatives.

PMTurnbull reaffirmed that Australia supports the central role and unity ofASEAN. He hailed PM Phuc’s official visit and the upgrade of bilateral ties toStrategic Partnership immediately ahead of the ASEAN-Australia Summit as apositive and significant contribution to the Summit and the ASEAN-Australiarelations.

Thetwo sides agreed to continue with their close and effective coordination atregional and international forums, including the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation (APEC) forum.

PMTurnbull appreciated Vietnam’s role in pushing the signing of the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Chile.

Heurged the two sides to closely coordinate with each other in the ratificationand implementation of the pact, expressing his belief that the agreement wouldbenefit its member countries while keeping the door open for the US and othernations which want to join the deal in the future. 

Hostand guest also reached consensus on the significance of ensuring peace,stability, security, and safety, freedom of navigation and overflight in theEast Sea, and settling disputes on the basis of international law, includingthe 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also showed theirsupport for the early conclusion of a legally-binding Code of Conduct in theEast Sea (COC).

PMPhuc took the occasion to invite his Australian counterpart to soon pay a visitto Vietnam at an appropriate time. The Australian leader accepted the invitationwith pleasure.

Followingthe talks, the two PMs signed the Joint Statement on the Establishment of aStrategic Partnership between Vietnam and Australia.

Theyalso witnessed the signing of four important documents, including an agreementbetween the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the AustralianDepartment of Education and Training on educational cooperation between the twoGovernments for 2018-2023. The other three comprise a memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) between the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs and the Australian Department of Education and Training onvocational education; an MoU between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science andTechnology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisationon enhancing collaboration in science and technology; and an MoU between theVietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Australian Centre forInternational Agricultural Research in the spheres of agriculture, forestry andfisheries.

Thetwo PMs then met with the press on the outcomes of their talks.

PMPhuc stressed that the establishment of the strategic partnership has created ahistorical milestone in the bilateral ties, helping deepen the two countries’cooperation in pillar realms, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Meanwhile,PM Turnbull affirmed that Vietnam and Australia will stand side by side indevelopment, within the framework of the strategic partnership, as well ascooperation mechanisms of ASEAN or CPTPP, for the sake of the two countries’people, and for security and prosperity in the region.

Onthis occasion, PM ​Turnbull hosted a banquet for his Vietnamese counterpart andhis entourage.

Thesame day, leaders of the two countries’ defence ministries signed a document onthe recognition of the intention to enhance defence cooperation between the twocountries.-VNA