Requesting Australia to open more doors for Vietnam’s agro-fishery products

On October 17, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Tim Ayres, Australian Senator and Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing, on the occasion of his visit to Vietnam to co-chair the OECD - Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2022 in Hanoi.

The Vietnam Prime Minister highly appreciated that Minister Tim Ayres will join Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son to chair the OECD - Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2022 in the afternoon of the same day. “Organizing the Forum in the current context is deemed an essential and timely act, sending a message about Vietnam and Australia joining hands with Southeast Asian countries and the OECD on the path of post-pandemic economic recovery.”

The Prime Minister held in high regard the fact that the parties involved had chosen the theme “Connecting Regions: Partnerships for Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chains” for the Forum, emphasizing that this is an area of great interest, and in line with the priorities and strengths of Vietnam and Australia.

The Prime Minister suggested Australia continue to work closely with Vietnam during the co-chair term in the OECD Southeast Asia Program, saying that this was an opportunity for the two countries to both continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation and engage with multilateral activities, serving as a bridge to promote cooperation between OECD and Southeast Asia countries more effectively and efficiently, thereby upholding international solidarity and multilateralism.

"Having people as the center, OECD countries including Australia should further support the development of human resources and vocational skills for ASEAN countries as well as Vietnam," the Prime Minister said.

Discussing bilateral relations, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested Minister Tim Ayres pay more attention to promoting economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. To be more specific, Australia should continue opening the market for Vietnamese agro-fishery products, stop dumping investigations for some Vietnamese products, speed up quarantine and customs clearance procedures at border gates, and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Australia.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh encouraged Australian businesses to increase investment in Vietnam in the fields of renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, and strategic transport infrastructure development. The Prime Minister also mentioned improving welfare for the Vietnamese community living in Australia in order to integrate with the host country without obstacles and make positive contributions to the two countries' relations.

For his part, Senator Tim Ayres affirmed that the Australian Government always attached importance to the strategic partnership with Vietnam and wished to tighten bilateral relations with the friend country. He stated that he would do his best in his position to further promote cooperation with Vietnam in potential fields which include economy-trade-investment, agriculture, education-training, culture, and labor. The Senator respectfully acknowledged the comments of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and said that he would report to the Prime Minister and the Government of Australia.