A year before Canberra became an ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1974, Australia decided to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Half a century on, much has proven that it was the right decision.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife at Melbourne International Airport (Australia) on the evening of March 4 - Photo: NHAT BAC
Vietnam's rising position
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's busy schedule is enough to highlight Vietnam in Australia and the host country's respect and appreciation. But there is a basis for Australians to have such respect. Summarizing the 50-year journey between Australia and Vietnam, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet described it as "great strides" in 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". "As the relationship between Australia and ASEAN continues to develop, we have high expectations for the relationship with Vietnam. Vietnam plays an important role in Australia's economic future", Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski once expressed this to the Vietnamese press ahead of the Prime Minister's trip to Australia. Indeed, from a country receiving support and investment from Australia, Vietnam is also investing and gradually establishing an economic presence in Australia, in areas where it has strengths and Vietnam needs. Typical projects include TH Group (135 million USD), An Vien Group (18 million USD in Northern Australia), VinFast Company with 20 million USD in Melbourne... Professor Carl Thayer (Australia), a person with many years of research on Vietnam, believes that some of the goals that Australia is pursuing with ASEAN need Vietnam. Politically, Australia wants to support ASEAN's central role with practical measures to promote the ASEAN Vision on the Indo-Pacific based on four pillars: maritime cooperation, connectivity, sustainable development and economic cooperation. "Australia looks forward to working with Vietnam to achieve these goals through the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)," Professor Carl Thayer commented.Australia's gateway to Southeast Asia
Vietnam and Australia cooperate in most areas of current cooperation between ASEAN and Australia. But there is one potential area that the two sides have not yet touched and Vietnam can become a model for other ASEAN countries in cooperation with Australia. That is climate - an area that is not only limited to climate change adaptation solutions but also includes clean energy, sustainable mineral exploitation, smart transportation... Through the cooperation between Vietnam and Australia, other ASEAN countries in the lower Mekong River can benefit in the goal of sustainable development. Or through the Aus4ASEAN initiative to support the green transition, the Partnership for Infrastructure (P4I) to address infrastructure investment needs. Politically, in the region, although not a founding member, Vietnam has an increasingly important voice in ASEAN and mechanisms in which ASEAN is the center such as the East Asia Summit, ASEAN+6. Vietnam and Australia also share many values, including valuing ASEAN's central role in international affairs, upholding international law, and pursuing peaceful and friendly cooperation among countries. According to Nguyen The Phuong (PhD student at the University of New South Wales, Australia), the relationship between Australia and ASEAN is the best it has ever been, not only at the ASEAN level but also bilaterally between Australia and each country. In the current context, Phuong believes that ASEAN needs to diversify its development and security partners to avoid dependence on the US-China bipolarity. "Australia, together with middle-ranking countries such as Japan, South Korea and India, can help ASEAN build a larger, more sustainable multilateral network for various goals from economic to security. "Australia also sees Southeast Asia as an extremely dynamic development region, bringing many benefits to this country and being a neighbor in the context of Canberra strengthening regional policies," Mr. Phuong commented to Tuoi Tre. While most ASEAN leaders came to celebrate the 50-year milestone of ASEAN-Australia relations, Vietnam and Australia crossed this milestone last year and are looking forward to a future of cooperation and mutual development in the next 50 years to bring benefits not only to the two countries but also to the region. [caption id="attachment_731164" align="aligncenter" width="1462"] 
[/caption] Tuoitre.vn
[/caption] Tuoitre.vn
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