Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Australia willwork together to consolidate political and strategic trust through regular exchangeof all-level visits and meetings, and via all channels, in order to make theirrelationship on par with the strategic partnership, said President Tran DaiQuang.

The President and visiting Australian Governor-GeneralPeter Cosgrove met the press on May 24 following their talks.

Quang said the two sides consented to expandcooperation between localities while stepping up people-to-people exchange.

The leaders also agreed to deepen bilateralaffiliation in national defence and security in the spirit of carrying forwardfruitful ties in current cooperative spheres like training and operations, whileexpanding cooperation to other potential sectors, he added.

Australia will help Vietnam deal with bomb and mineissues, and provide information about Vietnamese soldiers missing in actionduring the war in Vietnam.

President Quang stressed that both sides willseriously weigh up trade barriers that may affect exports of each other. Theywill also devise policies encouraging and supporting businesses to invest in eachother’s markets, thus creating breakthroughs in bilateral trade and investmentties in the time to come.

He went to say that Vietnam highly valuedAustralia’s continued official development assistance (ODA) for the country,with a prominent example being the Cao Lanh Bridge in the Mekong Delta provinceof Dong Thap funded by Australian ODA capital. The bridge is expected to be putinto service on May 27, 2018.

Besides, the two sides will intensify partnershipsin cooperative areas that have direct influence on the bilateral friendship andmutual understanding like education-training, science-technology, culture,sports, tourism and labour.

Currently, nearly 30,000 Vietnamese students arestudying in Australia. Meanwhile, close to 1,000 Australian students have cometo Vietnam under the New Colombo Plan.

In 2017, nearly 400,000 Australians visited Vietnamand more than 200 Vietnamese citizens registered to work in Australia under theWork and Holiday Programme.
These are important factors contributing to boostingthe friendship and cooperation between the two countries, President Quang said.

He also informed that their talks also dealt with regionaland international issues of shared concern. The two sides agreed that thereremain factors that may adversely impact peace, stability and cooperation inthe region, including terrorism, cross-border crime, and cyber and maritimesecurity.

The Vietnamese President said the two sides hadpledged to continue their close coordination at regional and internationalforums, including the UN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)and ASEAN-led institutions. They will also coordinate stances in the East Seaissue and implementing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to which both countries are signatories.

Cosgrove highlighted thriving economic ties betweenVietnam and Australia, in terms of trade, investment and developmentcooperation.

Two-way trade hits 11.9 billion USD, he said, notingthat Vietnam is Australia’s 15th largest trade partner.

The Governor-General said Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are scheduled to inauguratethe Cao Lanh Bridge, which was built with 160 million USD from the AustralianGovernment, on May 27.

He described the bridge as a symbol of theAustralian Government’s support for infrastructure development in Vietnam inorder to improve living standards of local residents and facilitate economicdevelopment in the Mekong Delta region.

The leader informed the press that at the end ofthis year, Australia will help Vietnam send the first Vietnamese peacekeepers toSouth Sudan.

Host and guest shared the view that there are brightprospects for Vietnam and Australia to enhance bilateral cooperation in thetime ahead, he said.-VNA