Hanoi promotes cooperation with many Australian localities

According to VNA correspondent in Sydney, continuing the working program in New Zealand and Australia, from March 31 to April 3, the Hanoi delegation led by Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the City People’s Council, visited and worked in Australia.

In Sydney, on March 31, the Delegation had a working session with Mr. Rodney John Roberts, Deputy President of the Senate of New South Wales.

Attending the meeting was Vietnamese Consul General in Sydney Nguyen Thanh Tung. At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan thanked the President of the Senate and the New South Wales state parliamentarians for their warm welcome to the delegation, and gave an overview of Hanoi and the city’s People’s Council, reviewing the relationship between Hanoi and Australian localities in recent times.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan emphasized the directions of cooperation and friendship in the coming time, after the two countries officially upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March 2024.

The Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Council expressed his hope that the Vice President of the Senate and the New South Wales state parliamentarians will be a bridge to promote the good friendship and enhance connection activities with businesses promoting investment, trade, tourism and education and training between Hanoi and Sydney and other localities of Australia; continue policies of interest and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community living, studying and working in Australia.

On this occasion, the Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Council respectfully invites the leader of the New South Wales State Senate to visit Hanoi in the near future.

Welcoming the Hanoi delegation, Deputy President of the Senate of New South Wales, Rodney John Roberts, assessed the visit as very meaningful in the context of the two countries upgrading their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; affirming that they will continue to coordinate and promote the good friendship between New South Wales, including Sydney, and Hanoi.

At the meeting, the two sides also exchanged and shared information on the structure, organization, and model of the three-level government; experiences in building and promulgating mechanisms and policies for economic development, urban management, environment, transportation, culture, society, and monitoring activities of elected agencies.

In the afternoon of the same day, the delegation attended the conference “Promoting investment, trade and tourism between Hanoi and Australia 2025.” Also attending the conference were Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Australia Nguyen Phu Hoa, leaders of the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, representatives of business councils, business associations and more than 120 Australian businesses and investors.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan emphasized that the Vietnam-Australia relationship is growing and has achieved practical results, especially after the two countries upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2024.

Along with political and diplomatic relations, economic, trade and investment cooperation also continues to be enhanced. The signed free trade agreements will be the premise for building an investment, trade and tourism environment between the two countries.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said that Hanoi is the capital, the national political-administrative center, a special urban area, and at the same time a major center of economy, culture, education and training, science, technology and international integration of the whole country. The city is focusing on innovation, streamlining the organization of the operating apparatus to be streamlined, effective and efficient; focusing on institutional reform, administrative reform, improving the investment environment with the goal of economic growth of 8% or more, creating the premise to achieve double-digit growth for the period 2026-2030 to firmly enter the new era of development.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan affirmed that Hanoi is a safe, attractive and potential destination, a favorable investment environment for foreign businesses and investors, including Australia.

The Hanoi City Government always values, accompanies and is ready to create the best conditions for businesses interested in investing and doing business effectively in Hanoi.

Speaking at the conference, Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung congratulated and appreciated Hanoi for successfully organizing the conference “Promoting Investment, Trade and Tourism Hanoi-Australia 2025”, stating that this is a conference of practical significance to strengthen cooperation between Hanoi and partners in Australia in three key areas: investment, trade and tourism.

Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung commented that Hanoi, with its position as the national political-administrative center and at the same time a dynamic city with nearly 10 million people, is in the process of strong transformation, towards green development, innovation and deep international integration. The city is not only attractive in terms of culture and tourism, but also a potential investment destination, with a growing startup ecosystem, a young and highly qualified workforce, and open investment attraction policies.

Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung also said that there is still a lot of room for cooperation, investment promotion, trade and tourism between the two sides; expressed his belief that after the conference, there will be more exchange activities, market surveys, and joint development of promotion programs, especially in the fields of investment, trade, tourism, education, technology and digital transformation.

For his part, in his speech at the conference, Trade Counselor Nguyen Phu Hoa said that trade between the two countries recently set a record growth of nearly 50%.

To create new momentum for trade and investment growth between the two sides, especially promoting investment from Australia, Mr. Nguyen Phu Hoa recommended solutions for Australia to invest financially in Vietnam.

Besides, Trade Counselor Nguyen Phu Hoa said that in the context of international trade tensions, building a supply chain has been and will help the two economies develop sustainably and complement each other.

Hanoi, with its quality human resources, can cooperate with Australia in many fields; acting as a connecting center in Vietnam, Hanoi businesses can link up with businesses to invest in Australia, creating big “boosts” such as building industrial parks to produce consumer goods in Australia.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phu Hoa, it is necessary to promote investment cooperation in the retail industry between the two countries in general and between Hanoi and Sydney in particular.

At the conference, the delegation witnessed the signing of three memorandums of understanding on cooperation between Hanoi and Australian businesses.

In an interview with a VNA reporter in Sydney on the sidelines of the conference, Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung said that the visit of the Hanoi delegation took place at the right time after Vietnam and Australia signed an agreement to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the political relationship between the two countries is at the highest level of trust and economic cooperation is increasingly strengthened and developed.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung said that the signing of three memorandums of understanding between Vietnamese and Australian businesses within the framework of the conference is not only an encouraging concrete result, but also a signal showing the trust, determination and long-term vision of both sides.

Consul General Nguyen Thanh Tung believes that with the initiative of the Hanoi government and the support of Australian partners at both the government and business levels, the commitments made at the conference will soon become specific, effective and sustainable cooperation projects.

Meanwhile, expressing his joy at attending the conference connecting with businesses in Hanoi, sharing with VNA reporters on the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Grame Barty, Senior Advisor on International Investment and Trade of the New South Wales Business Association with more than 100 businesses, said that the cooperation opportunities between Australia and Vietnam are huge.

Hanoi and Sydney are two big cities in Vietnam and Australia, so the connection between the two cities is very important, considered as the “locomotive” to promote the economy.

According to Mr. Barty, the New South Wales Business Association has encouraged members to take advantage of opportunities to participate in the Vietnamese market, and at the same time welcomed Vietnamese enterprises to cooperate and do business in New South Wales.

He assessed that Australia’s cooperation with Vietnam plays an important role and spans all areas, from finance and technology, education, energy, agriculture to key minerals.

Both sides have their own strengths and can complement each other. The state government always encourages and supports Australian companies to invest in Vietnam.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. David Adams, Senior Project Manager of FixBuild Group, highly appreciated the cooperation opportunities between Australia and Vietnam in general and between Hanoi and New South Wales in particular, saying that the two sides have good opportunities to cooperate in many fields, especially economics and trade.

Vietnam is an emerging economy with excellent product quality and is a good trading partner of Australia. Therefore, he affirmed that he will take advantage of every possible opportunity to invest in Vietnam.

In addition, Mr. Adams also said that he is researching the import of Vietnamese products in the construction sector to supply the construction market in Sydney, especially construction materials such as bricks, smart homes, aluminum, and steel.

Leaving Sydney on April 1, the delegation visited and worked with the Canberra Capital Authority. Also joining the delegation was Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam.

Receiving and working with the delegation on the Canberra government side was MP Chris Steel, in charge of the Canberra Sustainable Development and Planning Agency.

At the meeting, the two sides exchanged and shared experiences in areas of mutual interest such as solutions to promote economic growth, planning management, traffic, wastewater and waste treatment, air environment improvement, and renewable energy.

Regarding the orientation of friendly cooperation between the two capitals in the coming time, the two sides agreed to promote delegation exchanges at all levels, strengthen cooperation in the fields of investment, trade, tourism, education and training, and culture; and consider signing an official cooperation agreement between Hanoi and Canberra.

In Melbourne, on April 2, the delegation visited the Victorian Parliament, attended a plenary session of the House of Representatives and worked with Ms. Maree Edwards, Speaker of the Victorian House of Representatives, listened to an introduction to the model of government organization, states and cities of Australia; exchanged and shared experiences in activities, especially the development of policies and monitoring activities of elected bodies.

On behalf of the delegation, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan respectfully thanked the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Victorian state parliamentarians for taking the time to receive and work with the delegation; at the same time, he gave an overview of the capital Hanoi, the structure, organization, and activities of the National Assembly Delegation and the City People’s Council.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan suggested that the Victorian Parliament act as a bridge to promote friendship and cooperation between Australian localities and Hanoi in various fields; continue to pay attention to and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community living and studying in Melbourne and other localities of Victoria.

On this occasion, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan invited Ms. Maree Edwards to visit and work with Hanoi city.

Next, the Delegation visited and worked with the Vietnam Entrepreneurs Association in Australia.

Chairman Tran Ba Phuc said that the members of the Association have been making comprehensive progress in all socio-economic fields and are “ambassadors” of friendship, “catalysts” promoting economic, trade and investment relations, and fostering the development of the Vietnam-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.

On behalf of the leaders of Hanoi city and the working delegation, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuan congratulated the achievements of the Vietnam Business Association in Australia in recent times; informed about the socio-economic situation of the country and Hanoi city.

The Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Council requested the Association to promote the achieved results, continue to propagate and mobilize the Vietnamese community in Australia and its members to comply with the regulations of the host country as well as the Party’s policies and laws of Vietnam; increase promotion and introduction of the image of the capital and the country; promote the friendly relations and good cooperation between the two countries; step up connection activities, promote investment and trade cooperation between enterprises, including increasing promotion and investment activities with Hanoi city.

Also within the framework of the working trip, the delegation visited and worked with officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia and the Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney.

The visit and working session in Australia of the Hanoi delegation ended successfully with many practical activities according to the proposed program, contributing to consolidating and developing the cooperative and friendly relations between Hanoi and Australian localities; promoting investment, trade, tourism promotion activities and exchanging and sharing many experiences in building and developing the capital./.