Joint media statement - Parliament House, Canberra
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: It is my great pleasure to welcome the General Secretary and State President of Vietnam, Tô Lâm, in what is his first official visit to Australia. Australia and Vietnam are close friends and trusted strategic partners. Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing economies in our region.
Its success creates opportunities for both of our countries, and our trade relationship is stronger than ever. Two-way trade has doubled since 2020 to reach a record $30 billion last year, supporting jobs and businesses in both Australia and Vietnam. Building on this success is a priority for my Government.
Today, His Excellency and I agreed to deepen cooperation under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that we established just last year. We have agreed to a new joint statement on economic resilience. At a time when the world is becoming more uncertain, resilient supply chains matter more than ever.
Whether it's food, energy, or critical goods, both our countries have an interest in keeping trade open and reliable. That is good for our economies, good for our security, and good for our region. Today, we also welcome stronger cooperation across defence, maritime and border security, the digital economy, agriculture, energy, minerals, science, and innovation.
I'm particularly pleased that Vietnam has agreed to provide market access for Australian kangaroo and deer meat. This will open up avenues for up to half a million dollars in trade for Australian exporters. That's good news for Australian producers and another sign of the growing strength of our economic relationship.
Education is one of the pillars of our partnership, and I welcome Vietnam's investment licence agreement for RMIT University, which will allow the establishment of the new campus based in Hanoi. And as announced by His Excellency yesterday, Vietjet is set to commence flights to Western Sydney International Airport from January next year. That will make it even easier for our people, our businesses, and our students to connect.
As someone who first visited Vietnam in 1986 and has visited every decade since, I understand how important those personal exchanges are. These are practical steps that will bring our countries even closer together. We also spoke about the strategic challenges which face our region.
Australia and Vietnam both want an Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, and prosperous. We are both strong supporters of ASEAN and its central role, and Australia values Vietnam's leadership within our region. And I look forward to working closely with Vietnam at this year's ASEAN meetings and the East Asia Summit, and then afterwards at the APEC Summit that will be held.
General Secretary, I thank you so much for visiting Australia. You and your high level delegation are very welcome here. I know that the relationship between our two countries will continue to grow stronger, and I look forward to working with you to deliver the opportunities that our comprehensive strategic partnership creates for both of our peoples.
Thank you. TÔ LÂM, GENERAL SECRETARY AND PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM: [TRANSLATION] Honourable Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, distinguished Australian and Vietnamese guests, members of the press, I am very much delighted to return to this beautiful country of Australia. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the leaders and people of Australia, and the Prime Minister personally for the warm welcome extended to me and the high-level delegation of Vietnam.
May I congratulate you, Honourable Prime Minister, and the Government of Australia for the positive outcomes that Australia has recorded to date. I welcome your extended leadership in advancing a robust and modern Australia that plays an active role in regional and global peace and civility. Vietnam highly appreciates the policies and initiatives of Australia in bolstering unity with Southeast Asia.
The Prime Minister and I have had a very open and candid and substantive bilateral talks. We welcome the excellent and substantive relationship between the two countries, and the elevation of our ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, has led the our bilateral relations into a next phase of development with stronger political trust, better alignment of interests, and opens an ever more expansive space for cooperation, and we have agreed on the directions to deepen such ties.
First, we agree to further deepening political trust and strategic trust, foster a CSP that is sustainable and reliable, promote the prosperity and resilience of each country, and contribute to regional peace and stability. We also agreed to bolster cooperation in defence and security on the basis of international law and respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, and legitimate interest.
Second, we agreed to seek new breakthroughs in economic trade and investment cooperation in line with our CSP. Advance inclusive, substantive, and effective collaboration to address disruptions to supply chains, and we remain determined to further increase our two-way trade and investment turnover. Third, we consider science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as a key pillar and important impetus for our bilateral ties.
The two nations will enhance cooperation in AI, semiconductor, digital technology, cyber security, green technology, and emerging technology. The two sides will also support each other in enhancing capacity to better participate in regional and global supply chains, especially in important areas such as critical minerals, clean energy, energy transition, and advanced technology.
Fourth, we agree to continue to consider education, training, and people-to-people exchange as a long-term foundation and one of the key pillars for our bilateral relations. We will continue to provide training to foster a high-quality workforce, increase connectivity within our universities, cooperate in scientific research and vocational training and capacity building for digital economy.
I highly appreciate the attention of Australia and the positive contributions of the Vietnamese community in the country in acting as a bridge of friendship to improve unity and mutual understanding. Regarding regional and international issues. We agree that amidst the rapid and complicated developments around the world, countries need to bolster dialogue, enhance trust, ensure security and safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, and address disputes via peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the UNCLOS 1982.
Vietnam recently adopted the resolution on building Vietnam into a strong maritime country, giving priority to building a strong foundation for Vietnam to become a strong maritime nation, establishing a modern, united, holistic national maritime governance system on the basis of science, technology, and digital data. Further promoting the harnessing of sustainable harnessing of resources and the maritime space, and gradually gaining mastery of offshore and deep sea and new space for development and protecting the environment, conserving maritime ecosystem.
We also agree to both the cooperation and support each other at multilateral forums and coordinate positions on issues of mutual interest. We urge Australia to increase its connectivity with ASEAN, support ASEAN centrality, and support the Mekong Subregion in developing its green economy and sustainable development. On this occasion, the two sides also signed a number of important cooperation documents, and we will instruct ministries and agencies to expeditiously implement these to advance our CSP into a new phase of growth.
I am confident that, given our shared resolve, our bilateral ties will continue to thrive, fulfilling the interests of the two peoples and contributing to peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world. Thank you, Honourable Prime Minister, and all distinguished guests. PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.