Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính visits the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra on Friday. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

CANBERRA — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính visited the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia in Canberra on Friday as part of his official trip to the country.

At a working session with CSIRO leaders, the Vietnamese Government leader expressed his impression of the sound cooperation between Việt Nam and CSIRO over the past time, and congratulated the organisation on its valuable research that has contributed significantly to Australia and the whole world.

He highlighted that the organisation had been on the right track with its studies on digital transformation, green transition, innovation and agriculture, among others, which are in line with Việt Nam’s development policies.

He suggested CSIRO and its Vietnamese partners make efforts to remove roadblocks in their cooperation, adding the Vietnamese Government would pen mechanisms and policies to ensure that cooperation programmes would be carried out smoothly.

The PM asked Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities to step up cooperation with CSIRO, stressing as collaboration in science-technology, innovation, climate change response, digital transformation and green transition is boundless, they need to fully tap the Australian Government’s A$2 billion (US$1.3 billion) finance facility for trade and investment promotion with ASEAN so as to implement practical and specific programmes and projects.

Meanwhile, Australian Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts said as sci-tech and innovation cooperation programmes are a pillar in the bilateral relations, which has been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the Australian Government committed to enhancing the sci-tech cooperation with Việt Nam through specific projects.

Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt said that Australia’s innovation programmes managed by CSIRO had helped Việt Nam develop its fisheries, plantation and modern production sectors on the basis of the commercialisation of the research results.

For his part, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Minh Hoan said that cooperation with CSIRO would help Việt Nam handle challenges in agriculture that the country is facing.

Việt Nam hoped to receive CSIRO’s support to develop low carbon emission tra fish and shrimp farming models, he added.

On the occasion, Đạt and CSIRO Chief Executive Doug Hilton exchanged an agreement on sci-tech and innovation cooperation in the presence of PM Chính.

Established in 1916, the Australian national science agency has been one of the world’s largest mission-driven science and research organisations, with 5,500 staff and 57 establishments across Australia and representative offices in the US, Chile, France, Singapore, Indonesia and Việt Nam.

The organisation has close cooperation ties with the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology for years. Both sides signed agreements on research support in the fields of CSIRO’s strengths such as agriculture and food, healthcare and bio security, energy, manufacturing industry and land and water resources.— VNS