Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh calls on Australian businesses to invest in new growth engines

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum.

Photo: Duong Giang-VNA

The forum is co-organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment; Embassy of Vietnam in Australia; Australian Trade and Investment Commission; and Australian Embassy in Vietnam.

Also attending the forum on the Vietnamese side were Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung; Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien; Minister, Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son; Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son and leaders of ministries, branches and localities.

On the Australian side, there were Minister for Manufacturing and Trade Tim Ayres; Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan; and leaders of business associations. Notably, the forum was attended by leaders of nearly 200 Vietnamese and Australian businesses.

On the momentum of good development of Vietnam - Australia relations over the past 50 years, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries has been increasingly promoted and expanded. 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, mostly in the processing and manufacturing sector. Vietnam has invested in more than 90 projects in Australia with a total investment of more than 550 million USD. In 2023, bilateral trade will reach about 14 billion USD, ranking among each other's top 10 trading partners.

At the forum, delegates were introduced to the cooperation situation and potential, investment opportunities between Vietnam and Australia. Representatives of businesses from both countries introduced their capacity and their wishes and plans for investment and business cooperation.

Assessing Vietnam's leading advantage in the global energy transition picture, the leader of Blackstone Minerals Company said that with many significant investment projects in Vietnam, the company will continue to expand long-term and stable investment in Vietnam...

Meanwhile, considered the Vietnamese enterprise with the largest investment in Australia, a representative of TH Group assessed the investment cooperation in the high-tech agricultural sector of Vietnamese enterprises in Australia.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and delegates attend the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum.

Photo: Duong Giang-VNA

From an investor’s perspective, Mr. Andy Ho, General Director of the Investment Council, VinaCapital Company, said that the company has a long history and makes significant contributions to attracting foreign investment in Vietnam; highly appreciates the potential and calls on Australian investors to learn about investing in developing the financial, real estate, technology, and logistics markets in Vietnam, etc.

Speaking at the forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the organization of the forum at RMIT University and Melbourne - two locations that create momentum and inspiration for the relationship between the two countries.

The Prime Minister was pleased to announce that during this visit, the two sides are expected to declare the upgrading of bilateral relations, making them increasingly deeper, more substantial and more effective; affirming that although the geographical distance may be far, the sincerity and cooperation between the two sides cannot be hindered, for the benefit of the two peoples, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. The Prime Minister hopes that businesses will contribute to this.

In particular, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his wishes and expectations for "5 more things" when the bilateral relationship is upgraded: Better political trust, higher economic - trade and investment cooperation, stronger science - technology and innovation cooperation, deeper education and training cooperation, cultural exchange, people-to-people exchange, and stronger tourism and labor cooperation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum.

Photo: Duong Giang-VNA

Summarizing the main features of Vietnam's development guidelines, policies and achievements in recent years, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that economic, trade and investment cooperation is an important pillar in bilateral relations. 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 associations, business communities and investors of the two countries will further promote cooperation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh 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 cut costs for investors. The Prime Minister asked Australia to support Vietnam in the three strategic breakthroughs mentioned above.
In the process of cooperation, difficulties and obstacles are inevitable. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the two sides remove and resolve them on the basis of harmonious interests, shared risks, and harmonized interests between the State, enterprises and people.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh 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.

The Prime Minister also suggested that the two sides cooperate to promote new driving forces such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, knowledge economy, and sharing economy on the basis of innovation and science and technology.

The head of government also hopes that the two sides will continue to promote cooperation in people-to-people exchange, tourism, culture and education and training on the basis of strongly promoting the unique and rich identities of the two nations.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude to Australia for creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese people to live, Vietnamese workers to work, and Vietnamese students to study. In particular, the Prime Minister thanked Australia for being the country that has provided the most support to Vietnam in terms of Covid-19 vaccines, especially vaccines for children, at a time when access to vaccines is very difficult. "In times of difficulty and adversity, we know who are good people, who are sincere, who are devoted to us" - the Prime Minister emphasized.

Delegates attending the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum. Photo: Duong Giang-VNA

* At the forum, witnessed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, leaders of ministries, sectors and businesses of the two countries, Vietjet Air announced a new route connecting Melbourne, Australia, with the capital city of Hanoi, Vietnam. The route connecting Hanoi with Melbourne - the capital of Victoria state, the largest city in Australia will open from June 3, 2024 with 2 round trips per week.

Along with 58 flights per week between Ho Chi Minh City and the five largest cities in Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, which Vietjet has previously operated, the new Hanoi - Melbourne route continues Vietjet's international flight network expansion plan, contributing to opening up more opportunities for cultural exchange, education, economic development and tourism between Vietnam and Australia.

* Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and delegates also witnessed the handover of cooperation documents (MOU) between agencies and enterprises of the two countries, including agreements between: Vietjet Air and Swissport International Group to cooperate in developing aviation and cargo transportation services in Vietnam; Vietnam Airlines Corporation (VietnamAirlines) and RMIT University to cooperate in strategic research and training; Power Generation Corporation 3 (EVN GENCO3) and Corio Generation Company to cooperate in research and development of offshore wind power projects in Vietnam; Migreen Company and Biocare Company to cooperate in developing high-tech and sustainable agriculture in Vietnam.

* Earlier that morning, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the ceremony and cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Australia - Vietnam Policy Institute at RMIT University.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the ceremony and cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Australia-Vietnam Policy Institute at RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Commenting on the event, Australian Manufacturing and Trade Minister Tim Ayres and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said that with more than 300,000 people, the Vietnamese community in Australia has made important contributions to building a multicultural Australia and is a bridge, playing an important role in building and nurturing the increasingly practical and effective Vietnam - Australia relationship. The Australia - Vietnam Policy Institute was established to research and better understand the strategic relationship between Australia and Vietnam; contributing to the effective implementation of Australia's "Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040".

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the establishment of the Australia - Vietnam Policy Institute, believing that the institute will participate in providing policy advice to the governments of the two countries to promote and improve the quality of bilateral relations to become increasingly deeper, more substantive and effective in all fields, for the development of each country, for the people of the two countries and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Also here, informing Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh about RMIT University, RMIT University President, Professor Alec Cameron said that in nearly 25 years of operation in Vietnam, RMIT has trained 20,000 Vietnamese students - who have played and are playing important roles in various fields of work in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked Australia and RMIT University for training Vietnamese students and researchers; said that Vietnam prioritizes the development of science and technology, education and training, and innovation; and hoped that RMIT would continue to improve the effectiveness of training in Vietnam.

In the context of the excellent development of the relationship between the two countries, promoting cooperation in education and training, innovation, science and technology is extremely important. The Prime Minister suggested that RMIT invest in improving the quality of facilities and long-term investment in Vietnam, contributing to the cooperation in education and training between the two countries.

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