Promoting parliamentary cooperation worthy of Vietnam-Australia relations

At the invitation of the President of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Tran Thanh Man, President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines paid an official visit to Vietnam. This is Ms. Sue Lines' first official visit to Vietnam as President of the Australian Senate. The visit aims to demonstrate the importance of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, and at the same time promote cooperation between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the Australian Parliament.

President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam and Australia established diplomatic relations in 1973. The two countries gradually upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Partnership in 2009 and then to Strategic Partnership in 2018. Last March, Vietnam and Australia upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, opening a new phase in bilateral relations. Over the past 50 years, bilateral relations have maintained positive and effective development in all fields. The two sides regularly exchange delegations and contacts at high and all levels through all channels. Defense and security cooperation has developed substantially. The two countries have established a peacekeeping partnership, actively cooperated in the fields of preventing and combating transnational crimes, ensuring cyber security, etc. Vietnam and Australia are currently among each other's top 10 trade partners. In 2023, bilateral trade turnover reached nearly 14 billion USD. As of the end of December 2023, Australia had 621 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of about 2 billion USD. Vietnam had 92 investment projects in Australia with a total capital of more than 552 million USD. Australia is one of the largest providers of non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam. ODA sources help Vietnam train, improve capacity and prevent and combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam and Australia are currently among each other's top 10 trading partners. In 2023, bilateral trade turnover is expected to reach nearly 14 billion USD.

Australia is always among the top 15 tourist markets of Vietnam. The two sides are promoting cooperation in a number of new and potential areas such as climate change response, green economy, circular economy, digital transformation, equitable energy transition, etc. The relationship between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Australian Parliament has developed well on both bilateral and multilateral levels, making an important contribution to the overall relationship between the two countries. The 15th National Assembly has established the Vietnam-Australia Friendship Parliamentarians' Group. The Australia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group has also been established. The cooperation agreement between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Australian Parliament signed in 2022 creates a new legal basis and momentum to deepen the relationship between the two countries' legislative bodies. In multilateral cooperation, the two countries maintain cooperation and support each other at regional and international forums. Australia supports Vietnam to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term. At regional and international inter-parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (AIPA), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), etc., the two sides have increased exchanges and close coordination on regional and international issues of mutual concern. Last July, Australian Senate President Sue Lines, on behalf of the Australian Government and Parliament, visited Vietnam to attend the State funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. This demonstrated the deep affection and respect of Senate President Sue Lines personally, as well as Australian leaders, for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the relationship between the two countries. In response to the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, Australian Senate President Sue Lines paid an official visit to Vietnam to promote understanding and trust between the leaders of the two countries' legislative bodies. As a concrete activity to implement the signed cooperation agreement, in line with the content of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the visit will contribute to further strengthening the relationship between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the Australian Parliament. The visit also aims to enhance cooperation between the two countries in potential areas, including economy-trade, digital economy, green transformation, energy transformation, agriculture, labor, education, science-technology, natural resources-environment, tourism, culture and people-to-people exchange. I wish the official visit to Vietnam by President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines a great success, contributing to further strengthening and promoting cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries commensurate with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Nhandan.vn

Source: https://nhandan.vn/thuc-day-hop-tac-nghi-vien-xung-tam-quan-he-viet-nam-australia-post826625.html