Australia assists Vietnam 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses

On the afternoon of July 13, 2021, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh received Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan at the Government Office.

On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed sincere thanks to the Australian Government for its commitment to providing Vietnam with 40 million Australian dollars (AUD) to get access to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as its supply of additional 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in Australia for Vietnam in the near future. He hoped that the two countries would continue to cooperate closely in the fight against the COVID -19 pandemic.

Regarding bilateral ties, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said that the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership is developing well, especially the trade ties grew impressively by over 40 percent in the first five months of this year. That demonstrates the cohesion between the two economies as well as the positive effects from the free trade agreements to which the two countries are members, such as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that in the coming time, both countries effectively exploit the potential and strengths of cooperation, promote the effectiveness of cooperation within the framework of trade agreements, soon complete and sign the Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy between the two countries in 2021 towards a sustainable recovery after the pandemic and strive to soon become one of each other's top 10 trading partners.

The Deputy Prime Minister wished that the Australian side to further open its market for Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products, encourage Australian businesses to increase investment in Vietnam, increase support to Vietnam in many fields such as infrastructure, agricultural development, poverty reduction, climate change combating and high-quality human resource training, promote cooperation in the fields of army medical corps , and support the peacekeeping force of Vietnam.

On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh thanked Australia for supporting Viet Nam to fulfill its role as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Besides, he highly appreciated the active role and wished to strengthen cooperation with Australia at such multilateral mechanisms and forums as ASEAN and Mekong Subregion.

Minister Dan Tehan affirmed that Australia's support of 1.5 million vaccine doses for Vietnam is the proof of strong bilateral relations, and Australia is committed to continue cooperation with Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19.

The Minister said that in the previous talks with Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, the two sides agreed to make efforts to conclude negotiations on Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy between the two countries this year.

Exchanging on regional and international issues of shared interest, the two sides affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation as well as settling disputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Minister Dan Tehan's visit to Vietnam is part of a two-week trip to Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. to strengthen Australia's trading relationships with these countries and promote investment in Australia.