Sydney (VNA) – Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinhmet with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney on April 26 as partof her trip to attend the 2018 Global Summit of Women in the Australian city.

Vice President Thinh said Vietnam alwaystreasures and wants to strengthen relations with Australia, noting that theelevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership will create a foundationfor their relations to grow more strongly.

She expressed her delight at trade andinvestment connections. While bilateral trade has grown by over 7 percent eachyear to nearly 6.5 billion USD in 2017, Australia now have 412 investmentprojects with total capital of 1.8 billion USD in Vietnam.

She highly valued Australia’s officialdevelopment assistance for Vietnam, especially for the building of Cao LanhBridge in Dong Thap province that will be completed this May as scheduled.

The Vice President agreed to augment cooperationin education, tourism and people-to-people exchange, considering these fieldsthe two countries’ strengths to reinforce friendship and mutual understanding.She affirmed that Vietnam will work closely with Australia to implement the NewColombo Plan.

Minister Bishop, who led the Australiandelegation at the Global Summit of Women, said Australia was satisfied with andhighly valued the outcomes of the official visit to her country by VietnamesePrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as well as Vietnam’s participation in theASEAN-Australia Special Summit, hosted by Australia for the first time lastMarch.

She said that Vietnam is one of the prioritiesin her country’s foreign policy. She applauded increased exchanges ofhigh-level delegations, asking the two sides to promote bilateral cooperationmechanisms, including the joint committee at the ministerial level.

The official also spoke highly of the role ofthe Vietnamese community in Australia’s socio-economic development. She notedthat her country is always ready to cooperate to solve issues that could affectVietnam and bilateral ties on the basis of Australia’s regulations andpolicies.

With regard to the East Sea issue, MinisterBishop affirmed that Australia always attaches importance to the maintenance ofpeace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in and overflightover the East Sea, as well as the settlement of sea-related disputes basing oninternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea.

The two sides agreed to continue working closelyat regional and international forums. Vice President Thinh thanked Australiafor supporting Vietnam in APEC Year 2017 and its candidacy for non-permanentmembership in the UN Security Council.


Also on April 26, Vice President Thinh receivedGovernor of the Australian state of New South Wales David Hurley. She notedwith satisfaction the cooperation between Vietnamese localities and New SouthWales, especially in trade and investment. She said with its strength inindustry, agriculture, finance and services, the state will become the leadinglocality in fostering ties with Vietnam.

Governor Hurley lauded Vietnam’s attainments inensuring gender equality, adding that the country’s participation in the GlobalSummit of Women not only affirms the development of Vietnamese women but alsohelp inspire women in Australia and the world.

He promised to create conditions for Vietnameselocalities to seek and set up cooperative ties with New South Wales. He alsoagreed to cooperate strongly to ensure the Vietnamese community is united andcontribute to the development of each country and Vietnam-Australiarelations.-VNA