President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (right) meets with Australian minister of Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan in Hà Nội on July 13. - VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI - President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc thanked the Government of Australia for its pledge to send more than 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines during a meeting with Australian minister of Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

The Australian government also said it will give Việt Nam A$40 million (roughly US$30 million)·to fund the country's COVID-19 vaccination programme. 

The minister praised the Vietnamese government for its success in containing the novel coronavirus so far and said the two countries must take measures to strengthen cooperation. 

Since the two countries upgraded bilateral ties to Strategic Partnership status in 2018, two-way trade and investment has been booming. Despite the pandemic, Việt Nam-Australia's import/export turnover reached $8.3 billion in 2020. Việt Nam has become one of Australia's largest trading partners while the Oceania country is the 19th largest investor with 526 projects, worth a total of $1.92 billion in Việt Nam. 

The President said the two countries should push for greater cooperation in the fields of commerce, energy and industrial manufacturing. Measures must be taken to help remove barriers to markets and boost the export of agricultural products, minerals, rare earth and LNG (liquefied natural gas) as well as tourism and education. 

As the two countries are both members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the President said ties are set to grow strong in the future.

Earlier, the minister met with Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he hoped Australia would become one of Việt Nam’s ten largest trade partners and vice versa.

Welcoming Tehan, Minh spoke highly of Australia’s response to COVID-19 and its adaptation to the new normal, resulting in economic recovery and heightened position on the international stage. - VNS