Vietnam, Australia agree to raise bilateral trade to $10B
VIETNAM and Australia on Friday agreed to raise bilateral trade from nearly US$7.8 billion last year to $10 billion next year.
The agreement was reached during talks in Hanoi between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, who paid an official visit to Vietnam from August 22-24.
The two leaders said although Australia’s investment in Vietnam was remarkable, with nearly 500 projects and combined investment capital exceeding $200 billion, the countries still have a lot of potential in this regard.
They decided to build an enhanced economic engagement strategy to become top 10 trade partners and double investment.
They will also push ahead with the first ministerial-level Vietnam-Australia economic partnership meeting to boost relations in trade, investment and development co-operation.
The sides will step up two-way connectivity, expand collaboration in energy security and seize digital opportunities.
PM Phuc hailed Australia’s decision to send a delegation of top businesses to Vietnam in 2020.
The Australian PM agreed to facilitate market access for Vietnamese aquatic and agricultural products, saying Australia was considering importing live Vietnamese shrimp and fresh longan.
The leaders said they supported the rules-based multilateral trading system and co-operation to promote regional economic integration through free trade agreements, such as the Agreement Establishing the AseanAustralia-New Zealand Free Trade Area and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well as co-operation in multilateral economic frameworks.
They said they were pleased with the strong development of the VietnamAustralia relationship, saying the two countries hold substantial potential to strengthen ties.
The pair also spoke highly of the regular exchange of delegations and agreed to start the annual meeting mechanism of high-ranking leaders, while maintaining meeting mechanisms at the foreign affairs, national defence and economic ministerial levels.
PM Phuc said he believed Morrison’s first official visit to Vietnam as PM would significantly contribute to consolidating the friendship between the two countries.