Australia on March 28 informed that it has signed with Vietnam the first bilateral Memorandum of Understanding under the Australian Agriculture Visa Programme.

In a press release, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs said Vietnam’s participation in this programme strengthens and extends the nations’ already rich people-to-people links.

For decades, Vietnamese workers, students, businesspeople, and tourists have made extensive contributions to Australia, and the Australian Government looks forward to this continuing under the programme, it said.

Vietnam’s early participation in the Australian Agriculture Visa Programme demonstrates the Morrison Government’s commitment to deepening cooperation under the Australia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership. It is a key initiative of the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy launched by the two countries’ Prime Ministers on November 1, 2021.

Talking about the event, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said Australia and Vietnam share a strong and optimistic agenda and they are bound by warm ties of friendship and family that extend across every level of community, government, and business.

“This step reflects what is possible when we work together,” she stated.

The agricultural visa programme is intended to provide a sustainable, long-term contribution to Australia’s labour supply that supports its agricultural and primary industry sectors. Under the programme, employees will be recruited to work across a range of agriculture sectors, including horticulture, dairy, wool, grains, fisheries and forestry, including support services and primary processing./.