National Assembly (NA) Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn receives Australian Ambassador Gillian Bird in Hà Nội on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – National AsseGillianmbly (NA) Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn received Australian Ambassador Gillian Bird in Hà Nội on Monday as the diplomat began her tenure in Việt Nam.

At the meeting, Ambassador Bird expressed her honour to assume the role at a time when Việt Nam – Australia relations are flourishing. She highlighted progress across traditional areas such as politics, defence – security, trade, education – training, and culture, as well as in emerging fields like climate change response, clean energy, digital transformation, science – technology, and innovation.

The Australian Government views Việt Nam as an important partner in its Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, she stated.

The ambassador thanked Chairman Mẫn for his efforts in advancing parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, including hosting the President of the Australian Senate, Sue Lines, in 2024.

She reaffirmed the Australian Parliament’s commitment to the bilateral parliamentary ties and conveyed an invitation from the Senate President for Chairman Mẫn to pay an official visit to Australia.

She also expressed her honour to attend the opening sitting of the Vietnamese 15th NA's ninth session, voicing her admiration for its ongoing efforts in institutional reform, apparatus streamlining, and creation of a more favourable legal environment.

Việt Nam remains a popular destination among Australian travellers, with approximately 500,000 Australians visiting each year, according to the ambassador.

For his part, Chairman Mẫn noted that the upgrade of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March 2024 provides favourable conditions for Ambassador Bird to have a successful tenure to further contribute to robust cooperation between the two countries.

He extended congratulations to the Australian Labour Party and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on their victory in the recent 48th federal election, and expressed satisfaction with the bilateral relations now in their prime. Bilateral trade reached over US$14 billion in 2024 while Australia currently has 660 investment projects in Việt Nam with a total capital exceeding $2 billion, ranking 21st out of the 149 countries and territories investing here.

The top legislator also spoke highly of Australia’s ongoing implementation of the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, suggesting the two sides work to boost economic collaboration and further expand market access, thus raising bilateral trade to $20 billion and doubling mutual investment.

Chairman Mẫn also applauded the growing cooperation between the two legislatures, citing the visit by Senate President Sue Lines and exchanges among parliamentary friendship groups, female and young parliamentarians. He proposed continued delegation exchanges and experience sharing in legislation and supervision of the implementation of high-level agreements.

He acknowledged the Australian Government’s official development assistance (ODA) totalling around AUD3 billion (more than $1.9 billion) over more than 50 years, describing it as a meaningful contribution to Việt Nam’s socio-economic development.

Projects like the Cao Lãnh and Mỹ Thuận bridges have become symbols of bilateral ties, he went on, welcoming Australia’s support for climate change response efforts in the Mekong Delta and calling for continued assistance in essential infrastructure development.

Regarding legal reform, Chairman Mẫn said the Vietnamese NA is reviewing laws to create a favourable legal climate for FDI and ODA projects and considering updates to procedural legislation.

He also appreciated the Australian Government’s support for the Vietnamese community of around 350,000 people living and studying in the country, and reaffirmed Australia’s popularity as a top education destination for Vietnamese families. He asked Ambassador Bird to advocate favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to thrive and integrate in Australia. — VNS