Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (second right) with TMS Group Chairman Nguyễn Bá Luận (second, left) at a meeting in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Văn Điệp

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison chaired a meeting on exchanging and promoting co-operation opportunities between Vietnamese and Australian businesses in Hà Nội on Friday.

The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association (VEAS) in Sydney Nguyễn Bá Luận along with experts and business people from both Việt Nam and Australia.

Luận, who is also the Chairman of TMS Group, said Vietnamese businesses in Australia are inheriting knowledge, experience, advanced management and modern technology to develop through international-level projects which have great socio-economic significance.

“We hope the governments of Việt Nam and Australia to create a more favourable investment environment to encourage us to develop,” Luận said.

Since Việt Nam and Australia enhanced their relationship to the strategic partnership level in March 2018, the two countries have made rapid, real and effective development steps, in economic, trade and investment cooperation.

Việt Nam is currently Australia's fourth largest partner in ASEAN, while Australia is Việt Nam’s seventh largest trading partner.

Last year, the trade turnover between the two countries reached US$7.712 billion, up 19.3 per cent year-on-year, in which Việt Nam's exports to Australia reached nearly $4 billion, up 20.9 per cent and imports from Australia reached more than $3.7 billion, up 17.8 per cent.

By the end of June, Australia had nearly 460 investment projects with a total value of more than $1.86 billion, ranking 20th in 131 countries and territories investing in Việt Nam. Meanwhile, Việt Nam also had 53 direct investment projects in Australia with a total value of more than $247 million.

At the meeting, Luận introduced his TMS Group, which has affiliates and offices nationwide and in some regional countries including Australia and Japan, employing almost  7,000 people.

He said in an effort to become a reputable real estate developer, pioneering the development of the sustainable urban ecosystem, TMS Group has successfully developed three project including TMS Hotel Đà Nẵng Beach, TMS Hotel Quy Nhơn and TMS Grand City Phúc Yên.

“In the future, we will develop a series of hotels, resorts, entertainment complexes and golf courses in many provinces and cities in Việt Nam,” Luận said.

VEAS was established in February last year, gathering Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs living and settling in Sydney. In recent years, VEAS is one of the bridges contributing to promoting co-operation among businesses of the two countries. — VNS