Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh (L) and Premier Daniel Andrews. (Photo: VNA)

During this visit, Thanh paid a courtesy call to Governor Linda Dessau, held talks with Premier Daniel Andrew, met Minister for Trade Martin Pakula, chaired a roundtable with Victoria’s ministries and sectors on trade and investment, and visited Monash and RMIT Universities.

Victoria’s leaders acknowledged achievements in cooperation between the state and Vietnamese localities, reflected through a year-on-year rise of 24 percent in two-way trade in 2021 to 2.75 billion AUD (approximately 2 billion USD).

Governor Linda Dessau expressed her backing for the two countries’ upgrade of their strategic partnership on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2023.

Victoria is willing to open its doors to Vietnamese localities and businesses to promote comprehensive and mutually beneficial cooperation, she affirmed.

Premier Daniel Andrews welcomed Viet Nam's early reopening of international tourism, saying he believes this will facilitate trade, investment and tourism activities.

He also showed his willingness to ink cooperation agreements with Vietnamese localities, particularly Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi and Da Nang city.

The Ambassador emphasised that the first official visits to Viet Nam by the Governor in September 2019 and the Premier in October the same year paved the way for cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Victoria in many fields, especially trade, investment, tourism, education and aviation. Therefore, the state has become a pioneering model in the implementation of comprehensive cooperation with Viet Nam.

Working with Minister Martin Pakula and other officials, the Vietnamese diplomat said he hopes Victoria will soon carry out specific cooperation projects with Viet Nam following the state’s Southeast Asia Trade and Investment Strategy as well as the two countries’ cooperation frameworks.