Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his spouse have a meeting with officials of Việt Nam's representative agencies and Vietnamese community in Australia. — VNA/VNS Photo

CANBERRA — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Thursday had a meeting with officials of Việt Nam's representative agencies and the Vietnamese community in Australia as part of his official visit to the country.

He said he has asked Australia to consider and recognise the Vietnamese community as an ethnic minority group.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn said Australian leaders acknowledged this proposal and will take it into consideration.

At the meeting, Vietnamese people in Australia proposed the Party and the State consider loosening regulations on issuing passports and identification cards for Vietnamese people living abroad.

They also proposed opening more Vietnamese trade representative agencies in Australia to promote cooperation and bring Vietnamese goods deeper into the Australian market and vice versa.

They hoped the State would support connecting Vietnamese intellectuals and students abroad, including building an effective innovation network and a channel to introduce trained human resources abroad to serve the country’s development.

PM Chính thanked the Vietnamese community in Australia for their contributions to the country’s development, highlighting the expectation of further building an innovative community in Australia.

The Government leader hoped that the Vietnamese community in Australia would continue to join hands to build a strong, developed and united community, uphold national pride, actively integrate into the host country’s society, comply with the laws and contribute to local development. — VNS