Vietnam and Australia have issued a joint statement on liftingbilateral to the next level during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’sofficial visit to Australia.

The following is the full text of the joint statement:

“Following their meeting in Canberra today, Prime Minister Nguyen TanDung and Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia underscored thestrength and breadth of Vietnam -Australia ties and agreed to lift therelationship to a new level. They agreed to deepen and intensify theexisting Comprehensive Partnership, reflecting the increasinglystrategic nature of the bilateral relationship.

“Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made an official visit to Australia fromMarch 16-18, 2015 as a guest of the Australian Government. He wasaccompanied by a delegation of Ministers, Vice Ministers and businessrepresentatives. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met a range ofAustralian political, business and community leaders during his visit.

“During their talks, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dungand Prime Minister Tony Abbott covered a wide range of high priorityissues, including trade, investment, education, development assistance,defence, the South China Sea (which Vietnam calls the East Sea), andtheir shared commitment to strengthening the strategic and securitymandate of the East Asia Summit.

“The PrimeMinisters witnessed the signing of the Declaration on Enhancing theAustralia – Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, which sets out ahigh-level strategic agenda to guide the relationship in coming years.The Declaration covers regional and international cooperation, trade andinvestment, industry development, development assistance, defence, lawenforcement and security.

“The two Foreign Ministerswill sign a revised Plan of Action later in 2015, which will outlinethe practical steps towards our new and refocused priority areas ofcooperation.

“A suite of memorandums ofunderstanding were also signed during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’svisit on unexploded ordnance removal, peacekeeping, a new workingholiday maker visa arrangement and preventing human trafficking.

“The two Prime Ministers underlined the importance of strong ties atthe political level, foreshadowing a regular exchange of high-levelvisits between the two countries. In this spirit, the Minister for Tradeand Investment, Mr Robb, will lead a trade mission to Vietnam in thesecond half of 2015 to promote further the wide range of trade andinvestment opportunities.

“Prime Minster Nguyen TanDung and Prime Minister Tony Abbott agreed to reach a prompt conclusionof the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations, noting these agreements wouldhelp to drive higher growth. Australia stands ready to support Vietnam’sefforts to host Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2017.

“The two Prime Ministers called on all parties to fully implement theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC),exercise restraint and refrain from actions that could increase tensionsin the region, including the use of coercion or force to unilaterallyalter the status quo. Prime Minister Abbott and Prime Minister NguyenTan Dung agreed on the urgent need to progress a code of conduct for theSouth China Sea (COC).

“Reflecting the enormouscommercial potential in the bilateral relationship, Prime MinisterNguyen Tan Dung participated in a high-level business roundtable inSydney with senior Australian and Vietnamese business leaders.Underscoring the growing people-to-people links between Australia andVietnam, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung met with Australian students planning tolive, work and study in Vietnam under the New Colombo Plan.

“Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also planted a tree at the NationalArboretum in Canberra. The species, Acacia Implexa, was developed byAustralian and Vietnamese scientists.

“In Canberra,Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met the President of the Senate, theSpeaker of the House of Representatives and the Leader of theOpposition. In Sydney, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung met the Governor General ofthe Commonwealth of Australia and the Governor of New South Wales.

“Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung extended to Prime Minister Tony Abbottan invitation to visit Vietnam, which he accepted with pleasure.”/.-VNA