High hopes for Vietnam – Australia relations as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh takes charge

The forum, held at RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria, was organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Embassy of Vietnam in Australia, in collaboration with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and the Embassy of Australia in Vietnam.

Prior to the forum, Prime Minister Chinh and leaders of various ministries and localities from both countries attended the inauguration ceremony of the Australia – Vietnam Policy Institute at RMIT University.

Vietnam is an important link in Australia’s strategy

According to information from the forum, over more than 50 years of cultivation and building, the Vietnam – Australia Strategic Partnership has achieved important achievements in all aspects, going deep and effective, aiming for the upgrading of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Vietnam and Australia are also two countries with important strategic positions, two economies that complement and supplement each other in development.

Australia, with its large area, abundant resources, leading in education and training, manufacturing industry, high-tech agriculture, finance, services, startups, and innovation. Vietnam has been identified as an important link in Australia’s “ASEAN Economic Strategy by 2040”.

Since the two countries elevated their Strategic Partnership in 2018, economic, investment, and trade cooperation have always been given attention, promoting development and achieving positive results.

In terms of investment, Australian investors have been investing in Vietnam from the early days of opening up, and have made many contributions to the country’s integration and socio-economic development over the years. To date, with over 630 projects and registered capital of more than $2.03 billion, Australia ranks 20th out of 145 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, mostly in the processing and manufacturing sector. Conversely, Vietnam has invested in over 90 projects in Australia with a total investment capital of over $550 million.

In terms of development cooperation, Australia is one of Vietnam’s leading development partners with a total of nearly AUD 3 billion in cumulative ODA capital. The two sides have cooperated in implementing many key projects that have had positive socio-economic impact in innovative startups, infrastructure development (such as the My Thuan Bridge 1), high-quality human resource training, and COVID-19 pandemic prevention.

In terms of trade, with the advantages of the new generation of free trade agreements that both countries are members of, such as CPTPP and RCEP, bilateral trade between the two countries has made remarkable progress. In 2023, bilateral trade between the two countries reached approximately $14 billion, ranking among the top 10 trading partners of each other.

Speaking at the forum’s opening ceremony, Australian Minister for Manufacturing and Commerce, Tim Ayres, mentioned the good impression and warm welcome during his visit to Vietnam in 2022, and believed that the forum will mark a new phase in the trade relationship between the two countries.

He affirmed that with a multicultural country like Australia, the Vietnamese community plays a very important role and has been developing continuously. If in 1991 there were 124,000 Vietnamese people, now there are nearly 300,000 residing in Australia. Among them, RMIT University and the city of Melbourne have a large presence of Vietnamese people.

The Minister acknowledged that the relationship between the two countries has been strengthened thanks to the connection between the people, businesses, and the two governments. He believed that the economic relationship between the two countries has been developing continuously and that there is still great potential for cooperation. Australia wishes to further enhance cooperation with Southeast Asia and Vietnam.

The Minister expressed his desire to see practical results in economic, trade, and investment cooperation as well as promoting educational cooperation between RMIT, Australian universities, and Vietnamese partners, enhancing contacts and exchanges between people and youth of the two countries.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his joy and announced that during his visit to Australia, it is expected that the two sides will declare the upgrade of the bilateral relationship, bringing the relationship between the two countries deeper, substantial, and more effective.

“This reaffirms that even though the geographical distance may be far, the hearts and cooperation between the two countries cannot be hindered, for the interests of both nations, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world,” the Prime Minister stated, hoping that businesses will contribute to this effort.

The Prime Minister expressed his desire and expectations for “5 greater” outcomes as the bilateral relationship is upgraded: better political trust, higher economic, trade, and investment cooperation, stronger scientific and technological cooperation and innovation, closer educational and cultural exchanges between people, and stronger tourism and labor cooperation.

The Prime Minister also expressed joy and trust that the Australia-Vietnam Policy Institute will conduct research on the situation and make policy recommendations for the two governments to continuously deepen and make the relationship between the two countries more substantial and effective.

Summarizing Vietnam’s development path, policies, and achievements over the past years, the Prime Minister emphasized that economic, trade, and investment cooperation are important pillars of the bilateral relationship. While the achievements are highly valuable, they are still modest compared to the potential and cooperation space between the two countries.

The Prime Minister hopes that associations, business communities, and investors of both countries will enhance cooperation, affirming that the governments of both countries will continue to create favorable conditions for this cooperation. The Vietnamese Government will protect the legitimate interests and rights of businesses and investors, continue to promote its 3 strategic breakthroughs (institutional, infrastructure, and human resource reform), reform and simplify administrative procedures, and reduce compliance costs for investors. The Prime Minister proposed Australia’s support for Vietnam’s 3 strategic breakthroughs.

During the cooperation process, there will inevitably be difficulties and challenges. The Prime Minister proposed that both sides resolve these issues based on the principles of shared interests, shared risks, and harmonious interests between the state, businesses, and people.

The Prime Minister proposed that in cooperation, both sides focus on promoting traditional growth drivers such as investment, exports, and consumption. Vietnam, with a market of 100 million people, offers many Australian products that are favored by the Vietnamese people. Vietnam also has advantages in various sectors such as agriculture, electronics, and textiles.

The Prime Minister also proposed that both sides promote new drivers such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, knowledge-based economy, and sharing economy based on innovation and technology.

The head of the Government also expressed his wish for both sides to further enhance people-to-people exchanges, tourism, culture, and educational cooperation based on the unique and rich identities of both peoples.

In this context, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude and hope that Australia will continue to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese people to live, Vietnamese workers to work, and Vietnamese students to study in the country.

In particular, the Prime Minister thanked Australia as the country that has provided the most assistance to Vietnam in terms of COVID-19 prevention vaccines, especially vaccines for children, at a time when it was very difficult to access vaccines. “In difficult times, you really know who the good, sincere, and wholehearted people are,” the Prime Minister said.

At the conference, business delegates also made presentations on investment and business cooperation opportunities. Among them, Blackstone Minerals evaluated Vietnam’s leading advantage in the global energy transition landscape, especially in the exploration and processing of “green” nickel, creating products for use in new technologies such as electric vehicle batteries. VinaCapital assessed the potential for developing the financial market in Vietnam. TH evaluated the potential for investment cooperation in high-tech agriculture by Vietnamese businesses in Australia.

At the forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also attended the announcement ceremony of a new air route connecting Melbourne, Australia with Hanoi, Vietnam by Vietjet Air, meeting the travel needs between the two leading cities of the two countries. Vietjet and Swissport also reached an agreement on providing ground services and cargo transportation.