The talks between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in Hanoi on August 23 (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Australia on August 23 agreed to raise bilateral trade fromnearly 7.8 billion USD in 2018 to 10 billion USD next year.
The consensus was reached during the talks in Hanoi between Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, who is payingan official visit to Vietnam from August 22-24.
The two leaders said although Australia’s investment in Vietnam is remarkable,with nearly 500 projects and combined investment capital exceeding 2 billionUSD, the countries still hold a lot of potential and strength in this regard.
The two sides, therefore, concurred to build an enhanced economic engagementstrategy with the aim of becoming top ten trade partners and doublinginvestment.
They will also push ahead with the first ministerial-level Vietnam-Australiaeconomic partnership meeting to further boost the bilateral relations in trade,investment and development cooperation.
The sides will step up two-way connectivity, expand collaboration in energysecurity and seize digital opportunities, including digital economy ande-government.
PM Phuc hailed Australia to send a delegation of top businesses to Vietnam in2020.
PM Morrison agreed to facilitate market access for Vietnamese aquatic andagricultural products, saying Australia is considering the import of Vietnameselive shrimp and fresh longan.
The leaders affirmed their support for the rules-based multilateral tradingsystem and cooperation to promote regional economicintegration through free trade agreements to which both countries aresignatories such as the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New ZealandFree Trade Area and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as cooperation in multilateraleconomic frameworks, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)forum and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
They noted with pleasure the strong, dynamicand effective development of the Vietnam-Australia relationship over the pasttime, saying the two countries hold substantial potential to strengthen theirties.
They spoke highly of the regular exchange of all-level delegations through allchannels and consented to start the annual meeting mechanism of high-rankingleaders, while maintaining the meeting mechanisms at the foreign affairs,national defence and economic ministerial levels established within thestrategic partnership.
The two sides took note of the effective and result-oriented cooperation innational defence and security, especially Australia’s assistance to Vietnam injoining United Nations peacekeeping operations.
The PMs are scheduled to engage in an exchange with Vietnamese peacekeepingforces being trained by the Australian side at the Military Medical Universityduring PM Morrison’s visit.
PM Phuc suggested the two sides expandpartnerships in potential spheres like defence industry, cyber security andtraining connectivity.
PM Morrison agreed to enhance bilateral security cooperation, coveringnavigation and cyber security, and join hands in fighting cross-border crimes,human trafficking and terrorism.
The leaders shared the view that people-to-people exchange has developedstrongly thanks to progress in cooperation in education, culture, tourism,labour and sports.
PM Phuc welcomedAustralia’s announcement that from September 2 this year, Australia willincrease the number of Work and Holiday Maker visa places for Vietnamesenationals from 200 to 1,500.
They committed to cooperating in coping with climate change, reducing plasticwaste and exploiting seafood sustainably.
Apart from bilateral ties, host and guest touched upon regional andinternational strategic and security issues.
Australia committed to extending strong support to Vietnam in assuming the roleof the ASEAN Chair in 2020 and as non-permanent member of the UN Security Councilin 2020-2021.
Meanwhile, PM Phuc said Vietnam backs Australia’s efforts to boost connectivitywith ASEAN, expressing his hope that Australia will strengthen its cooperationwith countries in the Mekong sub-region in areas such as connectivity, ICT, climatechange adaptation and water resource management.
Regarding the East Sea, the PMs expressed serious concerns about developmentsin the East Sea, including land reclamation and militarisation of disputedfeatures.
They also expressed concern about disruptive activities in relation tolong-standing oil and gas projects in the East Sea.
The two leaders emphasised the importance of freedom of navigation andoverflight, compliance with international law and maintaining a rules-basedorder.
They called on all parties to exercise self-restraint and avoid actions thatmay further complicate the situation.
They also reaffirmed the need for states to resolve disputes peacefully,without the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, particularlythe 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The Prime Ministers underscored the importance of UNCLOS dispute settlementmechanisms and called upon the parties to respect and implement the decisionsrendered by these mechanisms.
They reiterated the importance of the full and effective implementation of theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).
They called for any Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China to be fullyconsistent with international law, in particular UNCLOS.
PM Phuc said he believes that Morrison’s first official visit to Vietnam in hiscapacity as Prime Minister of Australia will significantly contribute toconsolidating the friendship and developing the strategic partnership betweenthe two countries.
PM Morrison lauded major achievements Vietnam has recorded in national constructionand development which, he said, have helped to improve its role and position inthe region and the world, especially within ASEAN and the UN.
Australia always attaches importance to enhancing relations with Vietnam – itskey strategic partner in ASEAN and the region, he said.
Following the talks, the PMs witnessed the signing of five cooperationdocuments in the fields of e-Government, finance, human trafficking combat andaviation services.
They then co-chaired a press conference to announce outcomes of theirtalks.-VNA
VNA
