Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) shakes hands with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. (Photo: VNA) Canberra (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Australian counterpart AnthonyAlbanese announced the elevation of bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnershipbetween Vietnam and Australia at a press conference after their talks in Canberra on March7 morning.
AustralianPM said the upgrade of the Vietnam-Australia relationship to a comprehensive strategicpartnership aims to deepen cooperation between the two countries across fields such as climate change adaptation, energy transition, digital transformation,innovation, trade and investment, agriculture, defence, and education -training.
Albaneseexpressed his joy that the Vietnam-Australia Comprehensive StrategicPartnership has additional cooperation pillars in combating climate change,environment, and energy cooperation, as both countries have commitments to cutting emissions to net zero by 2050.
Thetwo sides are seeking to intensify trade and investment collaboration topromote their economic prosperity, he said, adding that Australia is currentlyimplementing its Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, which includes areassuch as enhancing business linkages and promoting investment with Vietnam.
Both sides agreed to expand education - training and labour cooperation, while discussing the importance of enhancing collaboration to protect and promote securityand stability in the region, including agreeing on a peacekeeping partnership andelevating the current Vice Ministerial Security Dialogue to the Ministeriallevel, the Australian PM said.
He emphasisedthat all initiatives and cooperation programmes must be maintained and furtherstrengthened based on connections and people-to-people exchanges between thetwo countries.
PM Chinh congratulated Australia on the success of the ASEAN - Australia SpecialSummit. He appreciated Australia's support and cooperation for Vietnam'sinnovation, integration, and development, especially the provision of 26.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and the maintenance of officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) support at a high level for the Southeast Asiannation.
Chinh stressed that the elevation of the bilateral relationship to comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia willcontribute to further deepening bilateral cooperation, and meeting the commonaspirations of their people, for peace, stability, cooperation, and developmentin the region and the world.
Withthe new cooperation framework, the two nations will boost politicaltrust and diplomacy; more comprehensive, substantive, and effective economic,trade, and investment cooperation; stronger cooperation in science, technology,innovation, digital transformation, and green transition; more comprehensive cooperationin culture, education, training, environmental protection, and climate changeadaptation; stronger people-to-people exchange and connections betweengenerations; more-shared security and defence cooperation towards peace,stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world, he said.
Bothsides agreed to deepen regional and international cooperation, continueto coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, especially the UN,ASEAN, and ASEAN-led mechanisms, promote peaceful dialogue and trust building amongnations, uphold ASEAN's central role, and enhance cooperation mechanisms in theMekong Sub-region.
Regarding the East Sea issue, both sides reaffirmed the importance ofensuring peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviationin the sea, and settling disputes through peaceful measures based on internationallaw, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS 1982); and agreed to exert efforts to make the East Sea the waters ofpeace, stability, comprehensive cooperation and development.
Thetwo sides pledged to create favourable conditions and ensure legitimate rightsand interests for the people and businesses of both countries to live, work,and study in each other's country.
PMChinh expressed his belief that after the upgrade, the bilateral relations willenter a new chapter with more substantive, effective, and sustainablecooperation across various fields, for the sake of the two peoples, and significantlycontributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the regionand the world.
Previously, the two PMs witnessed the signing a💙nd exchange of 11 cooperation documentsbetween the two countries in the areas of education - training; energy and mining;agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; science -technology and innovation; labourand employment; trade, investment, finance, and banking; defence andpeacekeeping; and justice./.
