Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ meets Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop in Canberra. — VNA/VNS Photo Khánh Linh

CANBERRA – Việt Nam and Australia yesterday agreed on measures to reinforce their comprehensive partnership in politics, economy-trade, agriculture, development assistance, education-training, science-technology-renovation, tourism and people-to-people contacts. 

The agreement was reached in talks held by Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ and his Australian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Barnaby Joyce; as well as working sessions with Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo in Canberra. 

The Australian officials lauded Việt Nam’s active role in the Southeast Asian region, and affirmed Australia accords priority to its relations with Việt Nam.
The two sides expressed satisfaction at the strong growth of Việt Nam-Australia relations, especially since the two countries lifted their ties to a Comprehensive Partnership in 2009 and released a Joint Statement on Enhancing the Comprehensive Partnership in March 2015. 
They agreed to deepen the bilateral relationship and work closely to prepare for visits of senior leaders of both countries in late 2017 and early 2018 to mark the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. 
They also agreed to strengthen bilateral economic, trade and investment ties and increase two-way trade from the current US$5 billion per year, while increasing investments in promising areas like agriculture, education, infrastructure, and creative technology. 
The two countries will work together for establishing a dialogue mechanism at the ministerial level towards setting up an economic partnership in the future. 
They also agreed to work towards removing obstacles hindering bilateral trade in agricultural and aquatic products, promoting business connectivity, and increasing added-value for farm produce. 
Banarby Joyce and Steven Ciobo said they would work closely with Vietnamese partners to support the import of fruits and fresh shrimp to Australia. 
Australia will also continue providing official development assistance (ODA) to Việt Nam in several areas including climate change adaptation, human resources development, private sector capacity enhancement, and gender equality. 
The two sides also shared views on regional and international matters. They agreed to continue coordinating closely and supporting each other at multilateral forums, especially the ASEAN. 
Australia affirmed its comprehensive support and active assistance for ASEAN to fulfill its targets in building the ASEAN Economic Community, strengthening connectivity, narrowing the development gap, reinforcing intra-bloc solidarity and promoting its central role in dealing with strategic matters in the region. 
The two sides also underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability, overflight and maritime security, safety and freedom in the region, as well as the settlement of disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

They highlighted the significance of respecting diplomatic and legal processes, exercising self-restraint, not taking unilateral actions to escalate tensions and dispute, strictly implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and the early formation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea. 
The Vietnamese and Australian officials stressed the need to enhance cooperation, seek suitable orientations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and speed up the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. 
Before concluding his three-day visit to Australia, the Deputy PM visited the Innovation Xchange run by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an initiative of Minister Julie Bishop to enhance the efficiency of development support projects and programmes that Australia operates in the Indian Ocean and Pacific regions. – VNS