Ho Chi Minh city and Australian state expand cooperation

He made the statement while being received by Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh city People’s Committee, on May 27th during his working visit to the Vietnamese city.

Chairman Phong presents a gift to Mr. Paul de Jersey. (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

During the reception, Mr. Phong appreciated the good cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Australia, adding that Ho Chi Minh city and Queensland state had signed a cooperation deal which ended in 2017. Therefore, he said he hoped that the Queensland state Governor would consider re-signing the deal for continued cooperative activities in diverse areas.

According to Mr. Phong, the direct flight between Ho Chi Minh city and Queensland state’s Brisbane city in 2018 was an opportunity for the two sides to promote cooperation in trade, investment and tourism.

In Ho Chi Minh city, Australian investors are running 182 projects worth USD188 million, ranking 17^th among 106 countries and territories investing in the city. The two-way trade turnover reached USD1 billion in 2018, while Australia is one of the countries with a large number of visitors to Ho Chi Minh city at 308,000 and a destination where Vietnamese students want to come to study. “I hope that in the near future, Ho Chi Minh city and Australia in general and Queensland in particular will expand cooperation in education, tourism, trade and investment,” said Mr. Phong.

Agreeing with Mr. Phong, Mr. Paul de Jersey expressed his hope that increased cooperation in economics and trade would help Queensland state’s and Australia’s goods would be increasingly available in Ho Chi Minh city and Vietnam.