Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits in Vientiane, Laos. (Photo: VOV)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese agreed to maintain all-level delegation exchanges and meetings, continue effectively implementing the Vietnam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES), and promote collaboration in security-defense, labor, education-training, agriculture, science-technology, tourism, locality-to-locality connectivity, and people-to-people exchange, among other spheres.

PM Chinh suggested Australia contribute more to promoting dialogue, cooperation, and trust-building through ASEAN-led mechanisms, and continue its support for ASEAN's efforts in narrowing the development gap, as well as its assistance to sub-regional cooperation, including the Mekong sub-region.

PM Albanese affirmed that Australia attaches importance to strengthening its relationship with Vietnam, noting that the upgrade of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership marks a new chapter in the relations.

Australia will continue to prioritize its official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam, particularly in the areas where Vietnam has needs, such as climate change adaptation, energy transition, digital transformation, and digital economy, he said.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam considers Japan a major reliable, and long-term partner, while meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba. This is the first meeting between the two PMs since Mr. Ishiba took office on October 1.

PM Chinh emphasised the importance of enhancing economic cooperation, strengthening economic connectivity, and ensuring economic security, while highlighting the need to speed up key collaboration projects, and committing to continuing to create favorable conditions for over 2,000 Japanese businesses to invest and operate profitably in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese leader urged Japan to consider providing new ODA loans for strategic infrastructure projects, including metro lines, high-speed railways, and climate change adaptation initiatives in various localities across Vietnam.

Prime Minister Ishiba affirmed that Vietnam is a key partner in its Free and Open Indo-Pacific Initiative, hoping to deepen and make the Vietnam-Japan relationship more intensive and practical. He also asserted his commitment to continue creating opportunities for Vietnamese workers and apprentices to study and work in Japan and assisting Vietnam in training high-quality human resources.

PM Chinh and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi concurred on continuing the promotion of the exchanges of high-level visits and meetings in flexible forms, promptly negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement, and increasing the frequency of direct flights between major cities of the two countries to facilitate trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people exchange cooperation.

Regarding regional and international issues, the two leaders agreed to continue supporting each other, working closely at regional and international forums, particularly at the UN, ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms, respecting the principles to ensure security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation, and peacefully handling disputes based on international law.

The same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, who is leading the Indonesian delegation at the summit, to discuss directions for future cooperation.