Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Hanoi June 4, 2023
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh held talks on May 4 to discuss a range of issues in cooperation between the two countries and concerns about tensions in the East Sea (South China Sea). Australia also pledged to provide Vietnam with A$105 million for infrastructure cooperation.
Speaking at a press conference on the same day, Australian PM Albanese said: “Today, the Prime Minister and I discussed the future of our relationship and how we can work together on challenges ahead, on security and climate change.”
On this occasion, PM Albanese announced A$105 million in support for Vietnam for cooperation in infrastructure, climate change response and energy transition.
According to state media, the head of the Vietnamese Government thanked Australia for increasing development assistance by 2.5% to Vietnam for the 2023-2024 period and suggested that ODA cooperation be an important element in the bilateral relationship in the future.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the Australian PM said: “The PM and I discussed a common vision for an open, stable, secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific region with compliance with national sovereignty.”
Last week, Vietnam officially voiced accusations of Chinese ships infringing on Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and asked Beijing to withdraw these ships, but the Chinese side did not withdraw, even asserting that these ships were operating legally in China’s waters.
Vietnam and Australia established diplomatic relations in 1973. The two countries established a strategic partnership in 2018. Two-way trade in 2022 increased 27% on year to hit nearly $15.7 billion.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
