Portfolio — 11 August 2026

The Prime Minister welcomed General Secretary and State President of Vietnam, Tô Lâm, on his first official visit to Australia, reaffirming the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established last year [TA-260811-pm-0b75bff5f9b0]. The visit produced a dense package of bilateral agreements spanning trade, defence, science, education and transport, with the PM framing the Australia-Vietnam relationship as a pillar of Indo-Pacific stability.

Two-way trade has doubled since 2020 to a record $30 billion. The leaders signed joint statements on Economic Resilience Cooperation and on Science, Research and Innovation, and secured Vietnamese market access for Australian kangaroo and deer meat, generating up to half a million dollars in new export opportunities [TA-260811-pm-0b75bff5f9b0]. They pledged transparent, diversified and secure supply chains for critical minerals, semiconductors, clean energy and essential goods including food and urea, committing to cooperate through the WTO, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and regional free-trade agreements [TA-260811-pm-ba37bceda5e4].

In science and technology, the leaders welcomed the Australia-Vietnam Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Initiative and the launch of Phase II of the Australia-Vietnam Strategic Technologies Centre [TA-260811-pm-779067d96239]. A new memorandum of understanding on vocational education and training will enable Australian providers to deliver industry-focused training in Vietnam, and Vietnam approved an investment licence for RMIT University to open a campus in Hanoi.

On defence and security, the leaders announced an updated Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation, joint maritime-security and disaster-relief training, and memoranda of understanding between border agencies to combat transnational crime [TA-260811-pm-e3d2f2ce7cad]. Vietjet separately announced direct flights to Western Sydney International Airport from January 2027, with twice-weekly services increasing to three per week from March.

The PM's briefing incorporated remarks from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Trade and Tourism, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the Minister for Education, and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, signalling a whole-of-government framing of the Vietnam partnership.

**Strategic framing.** The releases position the Vietnam relationship within the government's broader Indo-Pacific strategy: resilient supply chains, diversified economic engagement with Southeast Asian partners, and defence cooperation layered with science-technology collaboration. The package links concrete commercial outcomes — meat market access, airline routes, university campuses — to the strategic narrative of regional stability, presenting economic integration as both an economic and a security instrument.