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| Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his spouse arrive in Sydney early on Friday and will attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit 2018. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất |
Viet Nam News
SYDNEY – The first ASEAN-Australia Special Summit opened in Sydney on Friday, in the presence of Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and leaders of ASEAN nations including Vietnamese PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.
Themed ‘Enhancing Regional Security and Prosperity’, the event will feature discussions on issues in regional security, economic relations and counter-terrorism measures to tighten ties between Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The ASEAN-Australia Business Summit, the International Counter-Terrorism Conference and a plenary meeting of senior leaders are scheduled to take place within the three-day event.
Leaders of ASEAN and Australia will adopt a Sydney Statement, a joint declaration of the summit and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on anti-terrorism co-operation between ASEAN and the Australian government.
In addition, Australia and ASEAN nations are expected to adopt several MoUs, initiatives and projects on cooperation in fighting terrorism and human trafficking, the establishment of dialogue mechanism on cyber policy, maritime collaboration, economic co-operation and e-commerce criteria.
PM Phúc is expected to deliver three speeches, with the focus on ASEAN-Australia co-operation, including enhancing regional security and prosperity, the ASEAN-Australia economic partnership and regional maritime co-operation.
ASEAN and Australia set up relations in 1974. Australia was the first nation to establish an official dialogue partnership with ASEAN in politics, economics and specialised co-operation.
The two sides held the ASEAN-Australia Commemorative Summit to mark the 40th anniversary of bilateral ties in 2014, during which they agreed to lift the ties to a strategic partnership level.
In 2016, ASEAN and Australia organised the first Biennial Summit in Laos, agreeing that the first ASEAN-Australia Special Summit would take place in Australia in March 2018. — VNS
