Prime Minister proposes 3 breakthroughs, 3 enhancements, 3 togetherness in ASEAN-Australia relations

On the morning of March 6 (local time), in Melbourne, Australia, the Special Summit to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-Australia relations was held.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the conference and proposed 3 breakthroughs, 3 enhancements and 3 togetherness for ASEAN-Australia relations in the coming time.

At the conference, leaders of ASEAN countries and Australia expressed satisfaction with the development of relations and cooperation achievements, especially since the two sides established a Strategic Partnership in 2014 and upgraded it to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021.

Australia is the first Dialogue Partner and also one of the first partners to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with ASEAN. The bilateral relationship is developing dynamically in all areas of politics-security, economics, culture-society and development cooperation.

In 2022, two-way trade turnover will reach more than 101 billion USD, an increase of nearly 20% compared to 2021; foreign direct investment from Australia to ASEAN will reach more than 2 billion USD, 6.5 times higher than in 2021, almost reaching the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia is also one of the leading partners supporting ASEAN in community building, providing scholarships for students from ASEAN countries, financial and technical support to help strengthen connectivity, narrow the development gap and develop the Mekong sub-region...

Discussing the orientations for developing the relationship in the coming time, the two sides agreed to make efforts to create strong changes in economic, trade and investment cooperation through effectively implementing the newly upgraded ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); at the same time, promoting cooperation in new areas such as innovation, digital economy, green transformation, energy transformation, e-commerce, connectivity, etc. to become new growth drivers for economic relations.

ASEAN welcomed Australia's announcement of an additional AUD 222.5 million (USD 145 million) for cooperation with Mekong sub-region countries, the establishment of an AUD 2 billion investment fund and other initiatives to promote trade and investment with ASEAN countries in the coming time.

The two sides agreed to strengthen political-security, defense, maritime and cyber security cooperation, especially within the framework of mechanisms and forums initiated and led by ASEAN such as the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+), contributing to shaping a law-based regional structure with ASEAN playing a central role, implementing cooperation on the basis of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP); as well as promoting cooperation in education, training, labor, tourism, cultural exchange, people-to-people exchange, especially between youth and young leaders of the two sides.

Australia also announced an additional 40 million AUD for the Southeast Asia Maritime Partnership Program, bringing the total funding to 64 million AUD for the next 4 years; granting 55 master's scholarships and 55 doctoral scholarships under the "Australia for the Future of ASEAN" initiative; establishing an ASEAN-Australia Center to promote cultural and educational exchanges between the two sides.

Recognizing that the world and regional situation continues to develop complicatedly; instability and conflicts are increasing in many places, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Gaza Strip, the Red Sea, the East Sea, the Korean Peninsula, etc., the two sides agreed that more than ever, it is necessary to promote the culture of dialogue and cooperation, build trust and prevent conflicts, the role of international law and multilateralism in behavior and in cooperation to deal with common challenges.

The countries emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea; peacefully resolving disputes on the basis of international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982); calling for full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), promptly building an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS 1982, turning the East Sea into a sea of ​​peace, stability, cooperation and development.

Speaking at the plenary session, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the special significance of the conference; highly appreciated the close and long-standing relationship between ASEAN and Australia and Australia's cooperation and support for ASEAN over the past 50 years.

The Prime Minister proposed three breakthroughs and three enhancements for ASEAN-Australia relations in the coming time.

The two sides need to make breakthroughs in economic, trade and investment cooperation, striving to double trade turnover in the next 10 years; make breakthroughs in human resource development cooperation, especially high-quality human resources and labor cooperation; propose that ASEAN and Australia soon establish a reference mechanism to exchange specific measures; make breakthroughs in cooperation in science-technology and innovation, focusing on developing the digital economy, green transformation, circular economy and emerging industries and fields such as semiconductor chips and artificial intelligence; propose to study the possibility of negotiating the ASEAN-Australia Digital Economy Agreement.

Regarding the three enhancements, first, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that the two sides need to enhance political trust, cooperate to ensure regional peace and security, promote the culture of dialogue and cooperation, promote trust building and preventive diplomacy, and encourage major countries to make responsible contributions to the region.

Along with that, strengthening sub-regional cooperation, narrowing the development gap for inclusive and sustainable development, especially in strategic infrastructure connectivity projects, helps create positive socio-economic changes in poor and underdeveloped sub-regions of ASEAN.

At the same time, strengthen cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchange, promote the strengths of more than 1 million people of ASEAN origin, including more than 350,000 people of Vietnamese origin in Australia, contributing to enhancing understanding, empathy and connection, especially between the young generations of both sides, thereby consolidating a long-term and strong social foundation for the relationship.

At the retreat, in the spirit of sharing vision, pooling resources and acting together for a peaceful, stable and sustainable Indo-Pacific region in the future, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed 3 together between ASEAN and Australia to promote a regional vision with 3 aspects.

The first is to build a united and self-reliant region, capable of withstanding shocks and fluctuations from both inside and outside, and effectively exploiting new and breakthrough trends such as innovation, digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, sharing economy, artificial intelligence, etc. to accelerate comprehensive, sustainable, and inclusive growth, leaving no one behind.

Second, we must jointly promote a region that respects international law and acts on the basis of rules, in which countries comply with the United Nations Charter, international law, respect ASEAN rules and standards of conduct, and promote the development of new rules and standards of conduct, including a truly substantive and effective COC, contributing to making the East Sea a sea of ​​peace, stability, cooperation and development.

Third is to jointly build and shape an open, inclusive regional structure that promotes multilateralism with ASEAN playing a central role and being the core factor helping to gather and harmonize interests among major countries.

At the end of the conference, the leaders of the two sides adopted the “ASEAN-Australia Leaders’ Vision Statement – ​​Partnership for Peace and Prosperity” and the “Melbourne Declaration – Partnership for the Future,” setting out a vision for the future as well as directions for developing relations in all areas in the coming time.