Vietnamese-Australian relationship going from strength to strength

07/10/2008 -- 8:13 PM

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will pay an official visit to Australia on Oct. 13-14 at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The visit aims to strengthen and develop the two countries’ friendship and multi-faceted cooperation, lifting the relationship between the two nations to new heights. The two sides will discuss measures to boost bilateral ties in various fields and exchange views relating to a number of international matters of mutual concern. Vietnam and Australia established diplomatic ties in February 1973. The two sides have since held many high-level meetings and discussions, with the latest taking place in June 2008, when PM Kevin Rudd talked on the phone with PM Dung. PM Kevin Rudd and President Nguyen Minh Triet most recently met on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympics in August 2008. The two countries’ economic cooperation has developed markedly in recent years, with Australia establishing itself as Vietnam’s 7th biggest trade partner and 4th largest export market. Vietnam-Australia’s two-way annual trade value has seen continual sharp increases, from 32.3 million USD in 1990 to 4.56 billion USD in 2007. In the first 7 months of this year, two-way trade value reached almost 3.6 billion USD, equal to 80 percent of last year’s total. In particular, in August, Australia informed Vietnam of its principled recognition of the Vietnamese market economy. Australia is one of the most effective investors in Vietnam with 174 projects, worth 1.01 billion USD by early June 2008. Australia is ranked 17 th among 81 countries and territories that invest in Vietnam. Australia has continued to increase its official development assistance to Vietnam to approximately 100 million USD for the 2008-2009 period, up from 93.1 million USD during the 2007-2008. Vietnam remains one of the countries to receive the largest ODA from Australia . Cooperation in training is a particularly strong point in the relationship between the two countries. Currently, almost 10,000 Vietnamese students are studying in Australia. The two countries still possess great potential to develop cooperation in various areas, including agriculture, technology, education, tourism and health care. They have the potential not only for bilateral cooperation but also for cooperation through regional and international organisations such as APEC and the UN.-Enditem
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