Australia seeks to deepen bilateral relations with Vietnam: FM

Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong affirmed that Australia looks forward to deepening its bilateral relationship with Vietnam.

Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong

As the two countries move towards the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, Australia and Vietnam have a dynamic partnership underpinned by strong business and community links, she said in an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Sydney ahead of her visit to Vietnam, scheduled for June 26.

The diplomat said she will have meetings with Vietnamese leaders to discuss deepening these relationships.

The starting point is always listening to understand Vietnam's perspective on opportunities and challenges facing the two countries and how Australia and Vietnam can jointly seize opportunities and respond to these challenges, she said.

According to the Australian Foreign Minister, this includes supporting Vietnam's efforts to tackle climate change and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The diplomat said the two countries also share ambitious goals to boost bilateral trade and investment ties. They are working closely together in the post-COVID-19-pandemic recovery.  Australia has provided more than 22 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam - the largest amount of vaccine that the country has provided to its partners.

Wong affirmed that the strength of the relationship between the two countries is based on family and community links. Currently, there more than 300,000 Vietnamese people living in this country and Vietnamese is the fifth most spoken language in Australian homes./.

VNA