HCMCity (VNA) - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City NguyenVan Nen on August 23 hosted a reception for Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, who is on a working visitto the southern metropolis.

Nenhighlighted the significance of Wong’s trip, affirming that it will generatenew momentum for the bilateral relationship, especially as the two countries are marking the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations and the five years of the strategic partnership (2018 - 2023).

Overthe past half century, the Vietnam-Australia relationship has witnessed robustdevelopment, characterised by harmonious bond and deepening political trust,and increasingly comprehensive, practical, and effective cooperation acrossvarious domains, he said.

Nen spoke highly of Wong’s support to promoting cooperation between HCMCity and Australian partners.


HCM City and Australian partners have maintained a strong and cooperativerelationship in the spheres of investment, education, and healthcare, he said,stressing that the southern metropolis aspires to further enhance cooperationwith Australian partners, particularly in such areas as high-quality humanresources training, energy transition, urban infrastructure development, andclimate change mitigation.

Heexpressed his belief that the Australian guest’ official visit to Vietnam helpsnot only tighten the Vietnam-Australia relations but also open up newcooperation opportunities between the governments, businesses, and people ofthe two countries.

Theshared interests and concerns between the two countries, coupled with their trust,expectations, and determination, will help create even more effectivebreakthroughs in the bilateral relations in the near future, he said.

Forher part, Wong said the high-level visits between the two countries this yeardemonstrate their mutual interest and common goals in developing bilateralrelations, towards mutual benefits for the stable development and prosperity ofthe region.

Accordingto the Australian official, looking back on the 50 years of diplomaticrelations between the two countries, Australia takes pride in its endeavours topromote bilateral relations, including upgrading the relationship to a strategic partnership which serves as a foundation for the two countries to robustlypromote cooperation activities across all fields.

Australiaconsistently recognises HCM City as a vital component of the bilateralrelationship between Australia and Vietnam, and it has a desire to furtherstrengthen close cooperation activities with the southern hub in areas ofmutual interest, she went on.  

Acknowledgingthe cooperation proposal from HCM City’s leader, Wong stated that theAustralian Government recently decided to provide 94.5 million AUD (over60.76 million USD) for climate change mitigation efforts to be implemented inthe Mekong Delta region.

Australiawants to collaborate with Vietnam, including HCM City, in building a legalframework for educational cooperation between the two sides, thus making iteasier for Australian academies and universities to establish branches in thecity, as well as promote student exchange activities between the two countries,she added.

Duringher stay in HCM City, Wong will have a talkshow with students of the Universityof Economics Ho Chi Minh City./.