Deputy FM Nguyen Manh Cuong co-chairs first Vietnam-Australia Senior Officials' Dialogue
WVR - At the invitation of Australian Deputy Secretary Michelle Chan, Mr Nguyen Manh Cuong, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Australia and co-chaired the first Senior Officials' Dialogue between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs (SoT) from August 4-7, 2025 .
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| Party Central Committee member, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong and Australian Deputy Secretary Michelle Chan. (Photo: Bao Chi) |
At the Dialogue, both sides expressed their delight at the deep and comprehensive development of bilateral relations since the upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. They were pleased to note that the contents of this partnership are being comprehensively and effectively implemented across all six pillars, with over 100 cooperation activities completed and nearly 60 ongoing on schedule. Cooperation in various fields has yielded practical outcomes.
On the occasion of the Dialogue, the two sides adopted the Annual Review Report of the Action Program for implementing the Vietnam-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 2024–2027 period.
Both sides highly valued the deepening cooperation in politics, defense, and security, which reflects the growing political trust between Vietnam and Australia.
Notably, the two sides have regularly maintained bilateral exchange and dialogue mechanisms that enhance mutual understanding, and have organized several new mechanisms such as the Ministerial-level Security Dialogue (October 2024) and the Senior Officials’ Dialogue between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs (August 2025). On this basis, both sides agreed to coordinate preparations for upcoming high-level visits and mechanisms, including the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the Defense Policy Dialogue.
In the economic sphere, both sides expressed satisfaction that bilateral trade turnover in 2024 increased by 2.3%, reaching 14.1 billion USD. Australia has opened its market to Vietnamese passion fruit, and Vietnam has opened its market to Australian plums. For the first time, registered investment capital from Australia into Vietnam surpassed 3 billion USD in the first half of 2025.
Both sides agreed to continue effectively implementing the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 and the Vietnam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES), to accelerate the finalization and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Digital Economy, to soon organize the Ministerial-level Dialogue on Energy and Minerals, and to continue close coordination at regional multilateral economic mechanisms and free trade agreements to which both countries are parties, such as CPTPP, AANZFTA, and RCEP.
Vietnam highly appreciated Australia's commitment and increased ODA budget in recent years, as well as the very practical initiatives and projects implemented in various fields, including climate change adaptation initiatives in the Mekong Delta. Vietnam also proposed that Australia continue to support the energy transition process toward the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
In the fields of science, technology, and innovation, both sides agreed to accelerate the implementation of the Australia-Vietnam Innovation Partnership (Aus4Innovation), and welcomed the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia Centre for Strategic Technology (June 2025).
Both sides believe that science, technology, and innovation still have great potential, aligning with the overall development strategies of both countries, especially in the context of Vietnam strongly implementing Resolution 57-NQ/TW on science, technology, and innovation.
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| The delegation visited the Australia Vietnam Institute. (Photo: Bao Chi) |
Both sides continue to promote closer cooperation, particularly by strengthening connections between universities, research institutions, and fostering links between students and researchers of the two countries. They also encourage the implementation of joint research projects to create breakthroughs in science and technology cooperation in the near future.
During the visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong held working sessions with leaders of several Australian agencies, localities, scholars, and researchers to exchange views on directions for developing bilateral relations, promoting cooperation between localities of the two countries, as well as advancing cooperation in science, technology, and education between Vietnam and Australia.
Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong also held discussions with the Vietnamese Business Association, the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals, and Vietnamese experts in Australia to hear the community’s opinions on further promoting the contributions of Vietnamese experts, intellectuals, and entrepreneurs in Australia to Vietnam's economic development, science and technology, and innovation.
