Opening Remarks – Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister of Vietnam
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Thank you very much Prime Minister, and thank you for the very warm welcome that you have given us here in Vietnam. Thank you, as well, to your entire people for the warm welcome that we had yesterday on our arrival.
It is indeed 50 years since the Whitlam Government made the correct decision to recognise Vietnam. Since then, we have grown into strategic partners and good friends. Good friends across defence and security issues, across our economic relationships, but also our people-to-people exchanges as well, through areas such as education. My government is committed to boosting Australia’s relationships in Southeast Asia. And we are, at the moment, developing a Southeast Asia economic strategy to 2040, where Vietnam will play a central role. I’m very pleased that my Special Envoy, Nicholas Moore, visited here recently, but also just weeks ago, you had the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency David Hurley, had a very successful visit here as well to Vietnam. Our trade grew by 40 per cent just last year. I was able, as the Prime Minister said, to taste Australian wheat in a banh mi yesterday, and Australian barley in a beer made here in Hanoi. Some 99 per cent of the barley used in beer in Vietnam is from Australia. That is an example that we are seeing to diversify our trading relationships, and we see that as being very important as well.
Our friendship is absolutely vital to addressing the complex challenges that face us today in the region and indeed the world. We share a common view that the need for peace, security, stability and prosperity in our region. A common view that the rule of law must be upheld in international relations and national sovereignty respected. That is why we, of course, share those views as a basis for cooperation in multilateral forums, in ASEAN, and we recognise the centrality of ASEAN. Next year we will host a summit for ASEAN leaders in Australia, next March, which will be a very important gathering as well. I hope to welcome you to Australia, Prime Minister, at that time.
I’m very much looking forward to our discussion today. We’ve already had a very successful and open discussion with our one-on-one meeting this morning. It is typical of the way that we can relate to each other – with honesty, with a view to how we move forward together as well and I appreciate the spirit of that. I spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue, just a couple of days ago, about ensuring that we shape our own future in this region rather than allow the future to shape us. And that is my perspective as the Australian Prime Minister. I thank you very much for what is my first visit to Vietnam as Prime Minister, but my fourth visit here, largely in a personal capacity in the past, because this is indeed a wonderful place to visit. And I note that we’re going to have direct flights into Brisbane as well. That will help the people-to-people relations as well between us, because this is a relationship that is built through infrastructure and economic activity. But what it comes down to is a relationship between our people that we need to grow into the future. I thank you very much, Prime Minister.