Innovation, renewables, hi-tech agriculture cooperation called for Vietnam-Australia ties

Vietnam and Australia should work more closely in new areas such as innovation, renewable energy, circular and high-tech agriculture, culture, and tourism, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said on Monday.

He made the suggestions at the third ministerial-level Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting held in Hanoi, joined by Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell, who is on a visit to Vietnam to boost bilateral trade and investment ties.

Vietnam and Australia are expecting to double their two-way investment and become top 10 trading partners. Farrell said the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES) aimed to intensify bilateral trade and investment. This cooperation not only includes economic investment, but also investment in education and training, development cooperation, tourism, and agriculture.

At present, Australian investors are running 593 projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of around $2 billion, while Vietnamese firms have channeled $500 million into Australia.

Australia is now Vietnam’s seventh-largest trade partner. By the end of 2022, the Southeast Asian country’s export turnover to Australia reached $5.6 billion while its import spending for Australian goods and services reached $10.1 billion, up 26.2% and 27.3% against 2021, respectively.

Vietnam’s shipments to Australia included machinery, equipment, footwear, textiles, seafood, iron and steel. Meanwhile, Australia is a significant supplier of raw materials for Vietnam, including coal, cotton, ores, minerals, and wheat.

At the Economic Partnership Meeting, the Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment said that after 50 years of diplomatic relations, the two countries have become important leading economic partners of each other in many fields including trade, investment, development cooperation, agriculture, education, and training.

Australia ranks 20th out of the 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, focusing on the processing industry, manufacturing, accommodation and catering services, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, Dung said.

He called for more investment from Australia and suggested Australia coordinate with Vietnam to develop bilateral relations in a more balanced manner, support Vietnam in trade promotion activities, and introduce more Vietnamese products in Australia.

Farrell said he believed the meeting would open up new development orientations for the two countries.

Farrell also joined the Vietnam-Australia Investment Forum co-held on Monday by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).

“Vietnam is an important partner of Australia in the region. Australian investors always have trust in investing and doing business here,” he told the forum.

Many Australian businesses are interested in the implementation of the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy.

Prior to the two meetings, Farrell met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi. He reiterated that Australia wants Vietnam to play a more important role in his country’s trade partner diversification strategy, and act as a bridge to promote its relationship with ASEAN.

The PM told him that the two countries need to develop bilateral trade in a more balanced way by promoting exports of Vietnamese products to Australia.

Chinh proposed Australia make it easier for Vietnamese electronic, footwear, textile, and agricultural products to access its market and give a boost to a number of fields where both nations have strengths such as education and training, digital economy, innovation, renewable energy, labor, tourism, people-to-people exchange, and high-tech farming.