Sydney (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh haspaid an official visit to South Australia during which he had meetings with thestate’s leaders and key organisations to discuss measures to boost bilateral cooperation.

Hosting the ambassador, South Australia’s Governor FrancesAdamson said that she chose Vietnam as the first country to pay an officialvisit in her new position last November because she appreciates the nation’srole and position as well as the great opportunities that are opened up forcooperation between the two countries, including cooperation with her state.

The governor told her guest that education and training, trade,high-tech agriculture, renewable and hydrogen energy, science-technology anddigital transformation were defined specific fields for bilateral cooperation duringher visit to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from November 7-10.

She expressed her belief that on the basis of theincreasingly close relationship between the two countries, and the proactivenessof the ministries, sectors and businesses of the two sides, the cooperation betweenSouth Australia and Vietnam will have a breakthrough in the coming time.

Nick Champion, South Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Housing and Urban Development and Minister for Planning; Zoe Bettison, Ministerfor Tourism and Minister for Multicultural Affairs; and Terry Stephens, Presidentof the South Australian Legislative Council, all appreciated cooperationprospects between their state and Vietnam, and expressed their willingness to visitthe country in 2023.

Champion emphasised that South Australia is attaching increasingimportance to the Vietnamese market, especially in terms of trade and educationand training. He affirmed that the state is considering adjusting itsinvestment strategy to focus strongly on Asia and Southeast Asia instead offocusing only on domestic investment or the US and European markets.

Meanwhile, Bettison recognised the positive contributions ofthe 17,000-strong Vietnamese community in South Australia, and showed support forpreserving the cultural diversity and maintaining Vietnamese language teaching.

Informing the hosts about Vietnam's economic development inrecent years, Ambassador Thanh proposed South Australia pay attention toimplementing the country’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 andencourage more businesses to invest in Vietnam.

 On this occasion, he also had two roundtables with representativesfrom the Department for Education, the Department for Industry, Innovation andScience, the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia, and FlindersUniversity.

On February 28, Ambassador Thanh and Vietnamese ConsulGeneral in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland Nguyen Dang Thangattended a ceremony to mark the 50th founding anniversary of diplomaticrelations between Vietnam and Australia organised by the SouthAustralia-Vietnam Business Council in Adelaide./.