Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh meets with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney on April 26 as part of her trip to attend the 2018 Global Summit of Women in the Australian city. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Hải

SYDNEY — Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh met with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney on April 26 as part of her trip to attend the 2018 Global Summit of Women in the Australian city. 
Thịnh said Việt Nam always treasures relations with Australia and seeks ways to strengthen them further; noting that the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership will create a foundation for relations to grow. 
She expressed her delight at trade and investment connections. Bilateral trade has grown by more than 7 per cent each year to nearly US$6.5 billion in 2017, and Australia now has 412 investment projects in Việt Nam with a total capital of $1.8 billion. 
Thịnh praised Australia’s official development assistance to Việt Nam, particularly for the building of Cao Lãnh Bridge in Đồng Tháp Province, which will be completed this May as scheduled. 
The Vice President agreed to augment cooperation in education, tourism and people-to-people exchange, considering these fields to be the two countries’ strengths, to reinforce friendship and mutual understanding. She also affirmed that Việt Nam will work closely with Australia to implement the New Colombo Plan. 
Minister Bishop, who led the Australian delegation at the Global Summit of Women, said Australia was satisfied with the outcomes of the official visit to her country by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, as well as Việt Nam’s participation in the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, hosted by Australia for the first time last March. 
She said that Việt Nam is a priority in her country’s foreign policy. She also applauded increased exchanges of high-level delegations, asking the two sides to promote bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including a joint committee at the ministerial level. 
The official also spoke highly of the role of the Vietnamese community in Australia’s socio-economic development, noting that her country is always ready to cooperate to solve issues that could affect Việt Nam, as well as improve bilateral ties on the basis of Australia’s regulations and policies. 
With regard to the East Sea issue, Minister Bishop affirmed that Australia always attaches importance to the maintenance of peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in and over the East Sea, as well as the settlement of sea-related disputes based on international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 
The two sides agreed to continue working closely at regional and international forums. Thịnh thanked Australia for supporting Việt Nam in APEC Year 2017, and its candidacy for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council. 
Also on April 26, Thịnh received Governor of the Australian state of New South Wales David Hurley. She noted with satisfaction the cooperation between Vietnamese localities and New South Wales, especially in trade and investment. She said with its strength in industry, agriculture, finance and services, the state will become the leading locality in fostering ties with Việt Nam. 
Governor Hurley lauded Việt Nam’s attainments in ensuring gender equality, adding that the country’s participation in the Global Summit of Women not only affirms the development of Vietnamese women but also help inspire women in Australia and the world. 
He promised to create conditions for Vietnamese localities to seek and set up cooperative ties with New South Wales. He also agreed to cooperate strongly to ensure the Vietnamese community is united and contributes to the development of each country as well as Việt Nam-Australia relations. — VNS