Sydney (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell co-chaired the fourth Australia-Vietnam Economic Partnership Meeting in Adelaide city of Australia on October 17.

The meeting took place in the context that the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive strategic partnership during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Australia in March.

Speaking at the event, Dung said that with the upgrade of the relationship, Vietnam and Australia have become key economic partners of each other in various fields, including trade, investment, development cooperation, agriculture, education and training.

Farrell noted that bilateral trade is booming, creating more opportunities for exporters, businesses, and workers of both countries. Over the past three years, two-way trade has reached a record high of 26 billion AUD and Vietnam has become one of the fastest growing sources of international visitors to Australia after the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy is supporting its businesses in seizing new opportunities in the region, with Vietnam defined as one of the countries offering significant potential for Australian exporters, he stressed.

Regarding official development assistance (ODA), Australia is one of the largest providers of ODA for Vietnam. According to the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, in the 2023-2024 period, Australia has allocated 95 million AUD in ODA to Vietnam, mainly in areas such as economic growth, skilled workforce development, energy and climate, and gender equality.

As for foreign direct investment (FDI), as of August 2024, Australian investors had run 660 valid projects with total registered capital of 2.05 billion USD, making it rank 21st out of 149 countries and territories pouring capital into Vietnam.

Two-way trade reached 10.8 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, up 5.6% year-on-year, of which 5 billion USD came from Vietnam’s exports, up 30.3% year-on-year, and the remaining from its imports, down 9.3% year-on-year.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed measures to strongly promote bilateral economic relations and open new directions. They also assessed the implementation of the Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES) and the results of the meetings of the Working Groups on ODA, FDI, and trade.

The two sides also deliberated cooperation at multilateral and regional forums and mechanisms, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), as well as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

ඣ They also agreed that the fifth meeting will be held in Vietnam at an appropriate time to review the implementation progress of the EEES, as well as agreements reached in the fourth sitting, and propose new initiatives and cooperation agreements./.