VNA quoted Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam as saying that for Australia, the visit demonstrates a consistent policy of attaching importance to and prioritizing the development of relations with Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. For Vietnam, welcoming the Australian Governor-elect to contribute to the implementation of the Party and State's foreign policy, attaching importance to relations with countries in the South Pacific region, especially Australia, a country that plays an important role in the region, was previously the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam and currently has very effective and active cooperative relations with us.
Ambassador Pham Hung Tam emphasized that the visit will certainly contribute to continuously consolidating and enhancing strategic trust between the two countries, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region. Along with that, the understanding and friendship between the two countries will continue to be nurtured.
Since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March 2024, cooperation between the two countries in 6 pillar areas has developed strongly and comprehensively. In October 2024, the two countries signed an Action Program to implement this partnership for the period 2024-2027.
To date, the two sides have coordinated to complete or implement on schedule 96% out of a total of 180 action lines of this action program. In particular, the two sides have organized a Minister-level Security Dialogue for the first time, continuing to effectively implement partnerships in the field of United Nations peacekeeping, bilateral trade becoming increasingly balanced and the number of Australian tourists visiting Vietnam increasing, reaching nearly half a million in 2024.
The Ambassador emphasized that upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership not only demonstrates increased strategic trust between the two countries, but also helps create a new vitality for the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Australia.
According to the Ambassador, the Vietnamese community in Australia has made great contributions to the relationship between the two countries, as well as to the development of Australia. This is a large community with about 350,000 people and especially in Australia, Vietnamese is among the four most used languages (after English, Chinese and Arabian). Similarities in the way of recognizing and appreciating traditional cultural values, as well as the large Vietnamese community in Australia, can act as an invisible bond to strengthen the friendship between the two countries.
To contribute to making this layer more strong, the Ambassador said that the most important thing is to effectively implement the orientation agreed upon by the two governments in enhancing people-to-people exchanges, thereby helping to enhance understanding and solidarity between the people of the two countries.
This can be done by creating conditions to further promote cooperation between ministries, branches, localities and enterprises of the two countries in the fields of culture, tourism, sports, education and training.
For the young generation, in addition to creating more conditions for Vietnamese students to study in Australia, the two sides also need to coordinate to effectively implement the new Colombo program, bringing Australian students to exchange and experience in Vietnam.
