Prime Minister begins official visit to Australia

Vietnam and Australian agreed to work out a roadmap for comprehensive cooperation towards higher efficiency for the benefit of the two people, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reached the agreement at their talks held in Canberra on Oct. 13 after an official welcome ceremony for PM Dung and his entourage, who arrived in the capital city earlier the same day for an official visit to Australia.

PM Kevin Rudd warmly welcomed PM Dung’s first visit to Australia at a time when the two countries celebrate the 35th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

The Australian government wants to develop the friendship and cooperation between the two countries to a new height, he stressed.

PM Dung thanked PM Rudd, the Australian government and people for their warm welcome and stressed that Vietnam always wishes to strengthen and promote relations with Australia.

The two PMs informed each other of the situation in their respective countries.

PM Rudd praised Vietnam’s achievements over the past more than 20 years of renewal and expressed his belief that Vietnam would soon overcome the current economic difficulties, successfully curb inflation, maintain macro economic stability, prevent recession, and ensure social security and sustainable development.

He congratulated Vietnam for its important diplomatic achievements in the recent past, especially Vietnam’s accession to the WTO and role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2008-2009 term.

For his part, PM Dung congratulated Australia’s great achievements in building Australia into a prosperous and modern country, increasing Australia’s role and prestige in the region and on the international arena.

The two leaders expressed their pleasure at the development of the two countries’ friendship and bilateral cooperation in the recent past.

They appreciated the fine development of the two countries’ bilateral political cooperation, with increasing exchange of delegations and high-level meetings.

They said that the two countries’ economic cooperation has unceasingly developed with two-way trade value reaching 7 billion USD in 2007, and expected to reach 8 billion USD this year; Australian businesses have invested more than 1 billion USD in Vietnam and the country is currently Vietnam’s third biggest export market.

Regarding education, Australia has received nearly 10,000 Vietnamese students to study in the country. It is the largest number of Vietnamese students in a foreign country. Meanwhile, Vietnam-Australia cooperation in official development assistance, tourism, culture, science and technology also obtained high effectiveness, benefiting both sides, they noted.

The two PMs said that the two sides’ cooperation has not match up to the two countries’ potential and strength, particularly in economy, trade and investment.

The two PMs discussed measures to further promote bilateral cooperation in traditional areas such as economy, trade, investment, development assistance, education and training, tourism and culture, and to expand cooperation to other areas, including labour, construction, transport, mining, security, defence, information, agriculture, heath care, science and technology.

The Australian side agreed to continue providing ODA for Vietnam, especially for the Cao Lanh bridge project in southern Dong Thap province.

Australia also pledged to complete procedures to soon recognise the market- economy status for Vietnam and agreed to increase the number of annual scholarships for Vietnamese students.

PM Rudd also expressed his belief that the Free Trade Agreement between the ASEAN and Australia and New Zealand scheduled to be signed by the end of this year and the Australian ANZ bank’s establishment of a wholly-foreign investment bank in Vietnam would help promote the two countries’ economic cooperation.

PM Dung thanked the Australian government for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Australia to integrate into the local community and contribute to strengthening the two countries’ friendly relations.

The two leaders agreed to continue promoting cooperation in regional and international forums, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the United Nations.

The two PMs believed that the visit would contribute to lifting the two countries’ traditional friendly and cooperative ties to a new height.

PM Dung invited PM Rudd to visit Vietnam early next year.

After the talks, PM Dung and PM Rudd witnessed the singing of an agreement on convicted criminals transfer, attended a ceremony to grant the license for establishment of a 100 percent foreign investment bank in Vietnam to the ANZ Bank, and met with the press.-