Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 24 had a meetingwith Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove, who is on a State visit toVietnam from May 23-26.

Expressing his pleasure to meet the Australian Governor-General, Prime MinisterPhuc recalled his impression on the land and people of Australia during hisofficial visit to the country to attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit inMarch.

As part of the efforts to deepen the sound bilateral cooperation, theGovernment leader suggested both sides work to complete the Vietnam-AustraliaPlan of Action 2016-2019 and accelerate the realization of contents agreed inthe joint statement on the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia StrategicPartnership.

New mechanisms and frameworks should be set up to enhance partnerships in thefields of economy, agriculture, innovation, he said, noting that measures to increasetwo-way trade and investment should be stepped up, including the reduction and eliminationof trade barriers and facilitation of activities of both nations’ businesses.

Peter Cosgrove, for his part, expressed his elation to have the first visit toVietnam on the occasion of 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties and20th anniversary of defence relations between the two countries.

He agreed with PM Phuc on measures to boost bilateral relations, recommendingthat both sides need to fully tap their strengths to enhance collaboration ineducation-training, labour, culture, sports and tourism, and furtherpeople-to-people exchange, thus strengthening their friendship and mutualunderstanding.

He applauded Australia’s continued provision of official development assistance(ODA) for Vietnam, which focuses on the sectors of Vietnam’s need likeinfrastructure, agricultural and rural development, poverty elimination,climate change response, and development of high-quality workforce.

Also, he spoke highly of both sides’ efforts to complete Cao Lanh Bridge onschedule to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

At the meeting, PM Phuc and the Australian guest agreed that political trusthas been increasingly tightened thanks to regular delegation exchanges andmeetings at all levels.

Regarding regional and international issues, the leaders lauded the Vietnam-Australiasound cooperation at the UN, ASEAN and other multilateral forums, affirming closecoordination in dealing with the East Sea issue as well as implementing theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP).

Australia is now the eighth biggest trade partner of Vietnam. Two-way traderecords annual average growth of over 7 percent, reaching nearly 6.5 billionUSD in 2017, a year-on-year rise of 22.2 percent.

The country ranks 19th among 126 countries and territories investingin Vietnam with 414 investment projects in industry and construction,processing industry, services, education, and agro-forestry-fisheries.-VNA