Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính holds phone talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed measures to enhance relations between the two countries, particularly cooperation in economy, commerce and investment, during their phone talks on Tuesday.

The leaders agreed that there remained much room to boost cooperation in economy, commerce and investment because of the high demand for economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

PM Chính proposed Australia continues providing technical support; open further market opportunities Vietnamese agricultural products, including fruit and seafood; stop anti-dumping investigations for a number of Vietnamese products; and speed up quarantine and custom clearance activities.

He suggested Australia encourages their businesses to invest more in Việt Nam, particularly in renewable energy, hi-end agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure development and shoring up the supply chain.

He proposed Australia create conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest and do business in his country.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese said the two countries need to speed up the implementation of the Vietnam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES); and agreed with his Vietnamese counterpart's suggestion, including enhancing investment of Australia in Việt Nam, promoting cooperation in education and training, accelerate the implementation of the agricultural visa programme and open new direct air routes.

The two PMs reviewed developments in bilateral relations and appreciated maintaining exchanges of high-ranking delegations.

Bilateral cooperation in economy and commerce continued to develop with two-way trade turnover reaching $12.4 billion in 2021, equivalent to a rise of nearly 50 per cent, and $12 billion in the first nine months of 2022. The figure makes Australia the seventh biggest trade partner of Việt Nam, and Việt Nam the tenth biggest trade partner of Australia.

The two countries' cooperation in national defence, security, labour, education and training, agriculture, science and technology, tourism, aviation and people-to-people exchanges continues to develop.

The two PMs agreed to seek opportunities and enhance cooperation in new potential fields such as climate change adaptation, digital transformation, energy transition, high-end agriculture and infrastructure development. 

PM Chính congratulated outstanding achievements of Australia, particularly in economy, social security, climate change adaptation and COVID-19 prevention and control.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese spoke highly of the achievements of Việt Nam, particularly in poverty reduction, COVID-19 prevention and control, sustainable economic recovery and development and inflation control.

He congratulated Việt Nam on its election to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term.

He affirmed that the relations with Việt Nam plays an important role for Australia and Australia always attaches great importance to developing the strategic partnership with Việt Nam to a new level.

PM Chính thanked Australia for providing COVID-19 vaccines and Official Development Assistance. 

He proposed Australia continues supporting ASEAN to improve healthcare capacity, train high-quality human resources, and narrow the development gap.

Regarding the East Sea, Australian PM Anthony Albanese supported the stance of ASEAN, including of Việt Nam, and shared the viewpoint of settling disputes by peaceful measures and solutions in line with international laws, and ensuring security, safety and maritime and aviation freedom in the region on the basis of interests of countries. — VNS