National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue arrives in Canberra on November 29 evening, starting an official visit to Australia from November 30 - December 3. (Photo: VNA)

 Hue and the delegation were greeted at the airport by Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh, Deputy President of the Australian Senate Andrew McLachlan, and officials from the Australian House of Representatives and the Foreign Ministry.

Australia is a strategic partner of Viet Nam in the South Pacific region. The cooperation between the two countries is developing strongly across various areas, while the bilateral cooperation mechanisms are flexibly deployed in both face-to-face and online formats.

 Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Australia has seen a high growth rate despite impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting 12.4 billion USD in 2021 and 12 billion USD in the first nine months of 2022,  representing year-on-year increases of nearly 50% and 31.5% , respectively.

 Australia has provided Viet Nam with stable official development assistance (ODA). On October 25, Australia announced its budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, under which the country will increase ODA for Viet Nam to 92.8 million AUD compared to 78.9 million AUD in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

 Viet Nam and Australia will celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2023. Australia has expressed its wish to elevate the relations with Viet Nam to a comprehensive strategic partnership on the occasion.

 Cooperative ties between the Vietnamese NA and the Parliament of Australia have also been developing, both bilaterally and multilaterally, importantly contributing to the relationship between the two nations.

 At regional and global inter-parliamentary forums, the two countries’ lawmakers also engaged in discussions and exchanges on regional and global issues of common concern.

 The Vietnamese top legislator is scheduled to hold talks with President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Milton Dick on November 30.

 During the trip, NA Chairman Hue will have meetings with high-ranking leaders, a number of ministers and state governors; attend the Viet Nam - Australia education and economic cooperation forums.

 He will also meet with students of a number of universities, and representatives of the Vietnamese community in the country./.