Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong and Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Michelle Chan co-chaired the second Vietnam–Australia Senior Officials' Dialogue in Hanoi on June 11, reviewing progress in bilateral cooperation and discussing measures to further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The dialogue brought together officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant ministries and agencies, alongside Ambassador Gillian Bird, and representatives from the Australian Embassy in Vietnam and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Deputy Foreign Minister Cuong thanked Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong for her congratulatory message to, and Chan for attending the third ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) in Hanoi, expressing appreciation for Australia’s important contributions to the forum’s success.
He highlighted Australia as one of Vietnam’s most important friends and partners across areas, particularly development cooperation, education - training, defence, and trade.
For her part, Chan thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its warm reception and congratulated Vietnam on successfully hosting the third AFF. She described the event as a vivid demonstration for Vietnam’s growing role in bringing together regional leaders and scholars to discuss ASEAN’s future vision and regional issues.
She reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to being a reliable and enduring partner of Vietnam, and expressed Canberra’s desire to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation.
During the dialogue, the two sides reviewed the implementation of the Action Plan for the Vietnam–Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for 2024–2027, and expressed their satisfaction with the steady and effective development of the bilateral ties. They noted that political trust has continued to deepen through high-level exchanges and extensive consultations among ministries, sectors, agencies and localities.
The two sides welcomed the fact that 96% of cooperation initiatives outlined in the action plan have either been completed or are progressing on schedule. Trade and investment relations have also continued to expand, with two-way trade surpassing 14 billion USD in 2025. The two countries successfully organised the inaugural “Meet Australia 2026” event in May with support from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Austrade.
Australia remains one of Vietnam’s largest development partners, providing annual assistance of more than 96 million AUD (over 67.6 million USD) on average for green and digital transformation, energy transition, private sector development, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The two sides agreed to coordinate closely in preparing for upcoming high-level exchanges and advancing breakthrough measures to better tap the strengths and potential of both countries and deepen strategic cooperation across key areas, including defence - security, trade - investment, science - technology, and people-to-people exchanges.
Against a backdrop of increasing uncertainty and challenges in the regional and global economy, the two sides underscored the importance of cooperation to enhance economic resilience and strengthen capacity in science and technology, particularly in strategic technologies and critical minerals.
Vietnam welcomed Australia’s active implementation of its Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, under which Vietnam is identified as a key partner; greater Australian investment in areas such as green finance and climate change response.
The two countries agreed to speed up implementation of the Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy, and explore stronger technology connectivity between the two economies.
The officials also exchanged views on regional and international issues, noting that the increasingly complex and unpredictable strategic environment poses multiple challenges to regional countries, including Vietnam and Australia.
They pledged to continue close coordination and mutual support at regional and international forums, and promote dialogue, confidence-building, respect for international law and ASEAN’s central role, contributing to building a peaceful, stable, inclusive and sustainable region.
Both sides also reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, and settlement of disputes through peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.
