On the afternoon of October 27, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk on the occasion of attending the 47th ASEAN Summit and related Summits.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that there is still a lot of room for cooperation between the two sides, suggesting that the two sides continue to effectively implement the Action Program to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, periodically organize dialogue and consultation mechanisms, contributing to continuously increasing understanding and strengthening political trust; actively discussing measures to increase two-way trade turnover to increase growth, soon reaching the target of 20 billion USD, especially opening up, facilitating the export of goods from both sides to each country's market.
The Prime Minister highly appreciated Australia's Southeast Asian Economic Strategy to 2040, emphasizing that Australia's investment in Vietnam has had remarkable growth, especially since Australia established an Investment Promotion Office in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Prime Minister suggested that the two sides promote the effectiveness and further expand defense and security cooperation, especially cooperation in the fields of cyber security, digital transformation, and equipment support to improve capacity for Vietnam.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese affirmed that Australia always prioritizes relations with Vietnam, considering Vietnam a leading partner in Southeast Asia; emphasized the upgrading of relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership opening a new chapter in the relationship between the two countries; pledged that Australia will always prioritize ODA support for Vietnam, especially in areas where Vietnam is in need of such as climate change adaptation, energy transition, digital transformation, circular economy, etc.
At the meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the Russian Government increase scholarships for Vietnamese students, especially in industries where Vietnam is in great demand such as basic science and technology, civil nuclear energy.
The Prime Minister suggested that agencies and ministries of the two countries increase exchanges to find ways to remove obstacles and problems in the relationship between the two sides. At the same time, the Prime Minister also suggested that the Russian side further open the market for Vietnamese exports, hoping that Russia and members of the ASEAN-EU countries will remove threshold protection measures for Vietnamese goods.
Discussing the direction of cooperation in the coming time, the two sides agreed to promote trade cooperation in the direction of ensuring balance, creating conditions for each other's goods to increase market access, especially agricultural products, food, and foodstuffs; enhancing the connection of the two economies in terms of transportation and infrastructure, including promoting railway connectivity.
Regarding key strategic projects such as the construction of Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant, the two sides agreed to speed up exchanges, negotiations, and soon sign necessary agreements to be able to start the plant as planned.
