Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam-Australia cooperation continued to blossom in various fields, especially bringing about a sharp increase in trade, investment and official development assistance (ODA).
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the remark while receiving former Australian PM Paul Keating in Hanoi on August 27.
Australia is now among Vietnam ’s 10 biggest trade partners, and it has 174 direct investment projects worth over 1 billion USD in total in the country.

The cooperation in labour, education also made progress with more than 9,000 Vietnamese students and trainees sent to Australia .

The government leader cited the My Thuan Bridge – Australia ’s largest ever development assistance infrastructure project - as a symbol of the two countries’ relations.

The PM thanked the Australian government and people for their effective assistance to Vietnam , as well as to the community of 200,000 overseas Vietnamese residing and doing business in Australia .

He also thanked the former PM for his great contributions to the development of Vietnam-Australian multifaceted cooperation.

PM Dung asserted that the Vietnamese government would provide favourable conditions to Australian investors, and wished that the former Australian PM would further contribute to the two countries’ cooperation, particularly in ODA, and human resource training.

Former PM Keating said the development of Vietnam-Australia relations over the recent years has brought sweet fruits to both sides.

He also shared experiences in master plan design and macro-economy management.-Enditem