The Prime Minister's working trip to Australia and New Zealand has very special significance.

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife will attend the Special Summit to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-Australia relations and pay an official visit to Australia and New Zealand from March 5-11.

On this occasion, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet answered the press about the contents related to the Special Summit to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN - Australia relations as well as bilateral relations between Vietnam - Australia and Vietnam - New Zealand:

- Could you please tell us about the highlights of special significance in Vietnam's participation in the upcoming Special Summit to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-Australia relations?

- It must be said that the working trip of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to attend the ASEAN - Australia Summit and officially visit Australia and New Zealand this time has very special significance.

The first special thing is the timing. This year marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and Australia establishing relations, and Vietnam has just finished a year of celebrating 50 years of relations with Australia and is preparing for the milestone of celebrating 50 years of relations with New Zealand.

Notably, this is the first time a Vietnamese Prime Minister has visited Australia and New Zealand in the past 7 years, and is also the first visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the two countries as head of the Government.

The second special point to mention is that the relationship between ASEAN and Australia over the past 50 years has been very good. Political trust between the two sides has been increasing. Cooperation between the two sides in all areas, including trade, economy, culture-society... and new areas are being implemented very effectively. ASEAN countries all assess that Australia is one of the Comprehensive Strategic Partners with many practical and effective cooperation with the members of the bloc.

Therefore, this conference is expected to be a good opportunity for ASEAN and Australian senior leaders to look back and comprehensively assess the relationship between the two sides over the past 50 years, especially the implementation process of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between ASEAN and Australia established from 2021 to present.

At the same time, this is also an opportunity for leaders of both sides to discuss, propose visions, directions and specific measures to expand cooperation in the coming time. It is expected that both sides, especially the Australian side, will discuss and propose new cooperation initiatives. Therefore, we expect there to be breakthrough initiatives, contributing to creating more resources and foundations for ASEAN-Australia relations to develop more strongly in the coming time.

- As the Deputy Minister just shared, this conference is very important. In addition, during this working trip, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also paid an official visit to Australia. Could you please share the highlights of the official visit to Australia?

- In 2023, Vietnam and Australia celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Over the past 50 years, it can be said that the relationship between the two countries has made great strides, overcoming past differences to establish diplomatic relations, and now a Strategic Partnership with a very high level of political trust, even considered the highest ever.

Vietnam-Australia cooperation can be said to be very comprehensive. In addition to economic and investment cooperation, Australia also supports Vietnam through official development assistance (ODA), with symbols such as the My Thuan bridge, or thousands of scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in Australia, foreign language training programs for Vietnamese officials since the days when we were still under embargo. It can be said that such cooperation creates a very close connection between Australia and Vietnam.

In that context, the Prime Minister's visit this time is very meaningful. This is an opportunity for the two countries to evaluate the developments in bilateral relations in recent times, especially in implementing the Strategic Partnership between the two sides, as well as the high-level agreements that the two sides have reached during the visits of the Governor-General of Australia and the Prime Minister of Australia to Vietnam in 2023 and before that, the visit of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to Australia in 2022.

At the same time, on this occasion, the two sides will orient their cooperation in the coming time, emphasizing the goals of trade cooperation, promoting investment from Australia to Vietnam and from Vietnam to Australia. In particular, the highlight of this visit will be the goal of expanding cooperation in education and training, including vocational training; expanding cooperation in science and technology, innovation, taking advantage of new current driving forces, especially in the digital economy, green economy and energy transition, and developing renewable energy in Vietnam. Along with that, Vietnam and Australia will aim to bring bilateral relations to a new level.

- After leaving Australia, the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to New Zealand. So, according to the Deputy Minister, what are the areas in which we expect the two countries to promote cooperation during this visit?

- Along with Australia, New Zealand is an important Strategic Partner of Vietnam in the South Pacific region. Vietnam – New Zealand relations are a bilateral relationship with a long history.

Next year, we will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with New Zealand. Over the past years, New Zealand has been a partner that has supported Vietnam's development in many areas, from education and training to gender equality and development.

In particular, in the field of agriculture, Vietnam and New Zealand have had many effective cooperation. In addition, political trust between the two sides has been increasingly consolidated. We have welcomed many high-ranking delegations of New Zealand leaders to visit Vietnam and the two sides have reached many cooperation agreements.

During the Prime Minister's visit to New Zealand, the two countries will continue to discuss measures to further promote bilateral cooperation, including cooperation in traditional areas such as trade and investment.

At the same time, the focus of cooperation between the two countries will also include areas of cohesion and people-to-people exchange, especially cooperation in labor, education and training, agriculture, especially new technology in agriculture and measures to expand the import and export market of high-quality agricultural products, meeting the needs of both sides.

- Thank you, Deputy Minister, for taking the time to answer the interview!