Special features of the Prime Minister's visit to Australia and New Zealand

(Dan Tri) - This is the first time a Vietnamese Prime Minister has visited Australia and New Zealand in the past 7 years, and is also the first visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the two countries as head of the Government.

This was emphasized by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet when answering the press before Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to Australia and New Zealand. From March 4 to 11, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his wife and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation will attend the Special Summit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations and pay official visits to Australia and New Zealand. Dear Deputy Minister, what is the significance of Vietnam's attendance at the Special Summit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations in Melbourne? - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to attend the ASEAN-Australia Summit and pay official visits to Australia and New Zealand this time has a very special significance. The first special thing is the timing.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet (Photo: Doan Bac).

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations between ASEAN and Australia, and Vietnam has just concluded a year of celebrating the 50th anniversary of relations with Australia and is preparing for the 50th anniversary of relations with New Zealand. Notably, this is the first time a Vietnamese Prime Minister has visited Australia and New Zealand in the past 7 years, and it is also the first visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the two countries as head of government. The second special point to mention is that the relationship between ASEAN and Australia has been very good over the past 50 years. Political trust between the two sides is increasing. Cooperation between the two sides in all areas, including trade, economy, culture - society... and new areas are being implemented very effectively. ASEAN countries all consider Australia to be one of the Comprehensive Strategic Partners with many substantive and effective cooperation with members of the bloc. Therefore, this Conference is expected to be a good opportunity for ASEAN and Australian senior leaders to review and comprehensively assess the relationship between the two sides over the past 50 years, especially the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between ASEAN and Australia established from 2021 to present. At the same time, this is also an opportunity for leaders of both sides to discuss, propose visions, directions and specific measures to expand cooperation in the coming time. It is expected that the two sides, especially the Australian side, will discuss and propose new cooperation initiatives. Therefore, we expect there to be breakthrough initiatives, contributing to creating more resources and foundations for ASEAN - Australia relations to develop more strongly in the coming time. All leaders of the countries came to Australia to attend the Conference, but only 3 were invited to make bilateral visits, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was one of those 3 leaders. So what is the highlight of this official visit to Australia by the head of the Vietnamese Government, sir? - In 2023, Vietnam and Australia celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Over the past 50 years, the relationship between the two countries has made great strides, overcoming past differences to establish diplomatic relations, and now a Strategic Partnership with a very high level of political trust, even considered the highest ever.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the occasion of attending the 2022 ASEAN Summit (Photo: Doan Bac).

Vietnam - Australia cooperation can be said to be very comprehensive. In addition to economic and investment cooperation, Australia also supports Vietnam through official development assistance (ODA), with symbols such as the My Thuan bridge, or thousands of scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in Australia, foreign language training programs for Vietnamese officials since the days when we were still under embargo. Those cooperations have created a very close connection between Australia and Vietnam. In that context, the Prime Minister's visit this time is very meaningful. This is an opportunity for the two countries to evaluate the development of bilateral relations in recent times. On this occasion, the two sides will orient cooperation in the coming time, emphasizing the goals of trade cooperation, promoting investment from Australia to Vietnam and from Vietnam to Australia. In particular, the highlight of this visit will be the goal of expanding cooperation in education and training, including vocational training; Expanding cooperation in science and technology, innovation, taking advantage of new current driving forces, especially in the digital economy, green economy and energy transition, and developing renewable energy in Vietnam. Along with that, Vietnam and Australia will aim to bring bilateral relations to a new level. After leaving Australia, the Prime Minister will officially visit New Zealand. According to the Deputy Minister, what areas will the two countries promote cooperation during this visit? - Along with Australia, New Zealand is an important Strategic Partner of Vietnam in the South Pacific region. The Vietnam - New Zealand relationship is a bilateral relationship with a long history. Next year, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with New Zealand.

Vietnam and New Zealand have had a lot of effective cooperation in the agricultural sector (Photo: VNA).

In recent years, New Zealand has been a partner that has supported Vietnam's development in many areas, from education and training to gender equality and development. In particular, in the field of agriculture, Vietnam and New Zealand have had many effective cooperations. In addition, political trust between the two sides has been increasingly strengthened. We have welcomed many high-ranking delegations of New Zealand leaders to visit Vietnam and the two sides have reached many cooperation agreements. During the Prime Minister's visit to New Zealand this time, the two countries will continue to discuss measures to further promote bilateral cooperation, including cooperation in traditional areas such as trade and investment. At the same time, the focus of cooperation between the two countries will also include areas of cohesion and people-to-people exchange, especially cooperation in labor, education and training, agriculture, especially new technology in agriculture and measures to expand the import and export market of high-quality agricultural products, meeting the needs of both sides. Thank you, Deputy Minister!

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