Digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, knowledge economy, sharing economy… are potential areas of cooperation between Vietnam and Australia in the coming time.
Vietnam has the advantage of being a leader in the global energy transition, especially in mining and processing "green" nickel, creating finished products used in new technology industries such as electric vehicle batteries. This assessment was shared by a representative of Blackstone Minerals, a "giant" in the Australian mining industry, at the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum held yesterday morning (March 5) in Melbourne (Victoria, Australia), within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Australia and participation in the Special Summit celebrating 50 years of ASEAN - Australia relations.
The above assessment is completely consistent with the previous proposal of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Forum. That is, the two sides need to cooperate to promote new driving forces such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, knowledge economy, and sharing economy based on innovation and science and technology.
According to experts from the Australia - Vietnam Policy Institute, since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Partnership (in 2018), economic, investment and trade cooperation has always been focused on, promoted and achieved many positive results.
Regarding investment, Australian enterprises have invested in Vietnam since the early days of opening up and have made many contributions to the integration and socio-economic development process over the years. To date, with more than 630 projects and more than 2.03 billion USD in registered capital, Australia ranks 20th out of 145 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. In return, Vietnam has invested in Australia in more than 90 projects, with a total investment capital of more than 550 million USD.
Regarding development cooperation, Australia is one of Vietnam's leading development partners with a total accumulated ODA capital of approximately 3 billion AUD, in which the two sides have coordinated to implement many key projects with spillover effects and positive socio-economic impacts in the fields of innovation, infrastructure development, training of high-quality human resources and prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In terms of trade, with the advantage of new-generation free trade agreements of which both sides are members such as CPTPP, RCEP, etc., trade turnover between the two countries has made remarkable progress. In 2023, bilateral trade between the two countries will reach about 14 billion USD, ranking among each other's top 10 trade partners.
However, according to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the results achieved are very valuable, but still modest compared to the potential and space for cooperation between the two countries. Therefore, the Prime Minister hopes that the associations, business communities and investors of the two countries will further promote cooperation.
The Prime Minister affirmed that the two governments will continue to create favorable conditions for this cooperation. The Vietnamese government will protect the legitimate rights and interests of businesses and investors; continue to promote three strategic breakthroughs (institutions, infrastructure and human resources), reform and simplify administrative procedures, and reduce compliance costs for investors. The Prime Minister also asked Australia to support Vietnam in the three strategic breakthroughs.
The Prime Minister suggested that in cooperation, the two sides focus on promoting traditional growth drivers such as investment, export, and consumption, in which Vietnam has a market of 100 million people, many Australian products are favored by Vietnamese people, and Vietnam also has advantages in many products such as agricultural products, electronics, and garments.
According to Ms. Rebecca Ball, Deputy Consul General of Australia in Ho Chi Minh City and Senior Trade and Investment Counselor of the Australian Government, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission in Vietnam (Austrade) is actively promoting trade and investment partnerships in important areas through a series of initiatives with stakeholders in Vietnam, in which green development cooperation is always closely linked to the national goals of the two countries.
“The rapid expansion and transformation of Vietnam’s energy sector presents a real opportunity to grow trade and investment ties between the two countries in the future, laying the foundations for a deeper economic relationship between Vietnam and Australia in the decades to come,” Ms. Rebecca Ball said.
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