Canberra (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with hisAustralian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra on March 7 as part of his three-day official trip to the Oceanian country.

Welcoming PM Chinh, PM Albanese said the visit is of significance and is a milestone inthe bilateral ties after the two countries set up their diplomatic relations 50years ago.

He hailed the Vietnamese delegation’s positive contributions to the success ofthe ASEAN – Australia Special Summit held in Melbourne on March 5 and 6, whilerecalling his impressions of his official trip to Vietnam and his talks with PMChinh in June 2023.

PM Chinh, for his part, conveyed Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’sregards to PM Albanese, and congratulated Australia on the successful organisationof the special summit.

He believed that under the leadership of the Labour Party-led government and PM Albanese,Australia will continue to reap great achievements and increasingly affirm its role andposition in the region and the world.

In the spirit of sincerity and trust, the two leaders expressed their delight at the strong development of the friendship and Strategic Partnership betweenthe two countries and agreed to elevate the ties to a Comprehensive StrategicPartnership, while discussing and reaching consensus on close coordination topromote the bilateral cooperation to a deeper and more effective and practical way.

With a view to enhancing political and diplomatic trust, they agreed to promoteexchange of delegations and contacts at high level, maintain bilateral cooperationmechanisms, and effectively realise the signed documents and prepare the actionprogramme for 2024-2028. Besides, both nations will accelerate people-to-peopleexchanges, create favourable conditions for friendship associations to organisecultural, sport and charity events, and foster local cooperation and partnership inthe fields of gender equality and protection of vulnerable groups.

Aiming for more inclusive, practical andeffective economic, trade and investment cooperation, the two leaders wereunanimous to facilitate market opening for each other’s agricultural productstowards diversifying their supply chains.

PM Chinh asked Australia to create favourable conditions for Vietnameseenterprises to do business and invest in the country, while welcomingAustralia’s investments, especially high-quality ones with state-of-the-arttechnologies.

The two leaders consented to effectively carry out the Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) on science-technology and innovation, under which Australia will help Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises with technology transfer,and Australian tech firms cooperate with Vietnamese innovation centres andsemiconductor producers.

They also agreed to strengthen cultural exchanges, promote cooperation invocational training, increase the number of scholarships for Vietnamesestudents, and open branches of Australian universities in Vietnam.

The two nations will work together to promote green hydrogen production in Vietnam and join handsin climate change response. Australia will help the Southeast Asian country torealise its net-zero target by 2050.

Along with the existing sound cooperation, the two sides agreed to promote thesigning of a cooperative agreement on tourism, making them the top travelmarkets of each other. They will soon implement an MoU on supporting Vietnamesecitizens who work in the agricultural sector in Australia.

PM Chinh proposed the Australian Government create favourable conditions for theVietnamese community in Australia.

Touching on security-defence cooperation, they concurred to effectively carryout the Peacekeeping Partnership Arrangement, and continue close cooperation ineducation and training, prevention of cross-border crimes, information andexperience sharing between the two armies' units, post-war recovery and national databasebuilding.

Discussing regional and international issues, the two PMs agreed to back each otherand work closely at regional and international forums, especially the UN, ASEANand ASEAN-led mechanisms.

PM Chinh spoke highly of Australia’s stance that supports the respect for international law in the region and settlement of disputes in the East Sea viapeaceful means in accordance with the international law, especially the 1982 UNConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.