Her visit is part of a broader regional visit to Southeast Asia (including Singapore, Thailand and Laos) to enhance military ties and cooperation.
In her courtesy call with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on August 24th, Minister Payne reiterated Australia’s commitment to working with Vietnam and other regional partners to promote regional peace and security. She highlighted Australia’s commitment to resolving disputes in a peaceful manner, consistent with each countries’ rights under international law. Minister Payne welcomed Vietnam’s important role in promoting regional prosperity and security, including its support for annual meetings of the ASEAN Defence Minister Meeting Plus, which includes both Vietnam and Australia as members.
Meeting with PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc at PM Office
Australian Minister for Defence Senator the Hon Marise Payne and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on August 24th, 2017
Australian Minister for Defence Senator the Hon Marise Payne and Vietnamese Minister of Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich reviewing the Guards of Honor.
Australian Minister for Defence Senator the Hon Marise Payne is warmly welcomed by Vietnamese Minister of Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich
Earlier, the Australian Minister was received by a guard of honor at the Ministry of National Defence and held a bilateral dialogue with General Ngo Xuan Lich, Minister for National Defence. The two sides discussed opportunities to expand bilateral defence ties. Australia welcomed Vietnam’s contribution to global security through its preparations to deploy a contingent to a UN peacekeeping mission in early 2018.
“The Defence Minister’s visit provides an opportunity to strengthen Australia’s security partnership with Vietnam. Our defence relationship is long-standing and provides practical support for our countries’ mutually beneficial contribution to regional prosperity and security”, said Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Craig Chittick.
On August 25th, the Minister will visit Unit 871 and meet with Vietnamese People’s Army students who are studying English language under the Australia - Vietnam Defence Cooperation program and staff members of Vietnam Peacekeeping Center. She will then visit Special Forces Brigade 113 where she will observe a demonstration of their counter-terrorism capabilities.
The Australia-Vietnam Defence cooperation relationship commenced in 1998 and includes bilateral dialogues at strategic levels and practical cooperation activities. The two sides also work together on regional and multilateral architecture including ASEAN, ADMM+, ARF, and EAS.
Practical cooperation between the two nations focuses on a wide range of defence areas including English language training, university and military specialist training, counter-terrorism, aviation safety, maritime security and information analysis. Over the past 19 years, the Australian Defence Force has trained over 2,000 Vietnam People’s Army officers both in Vietnam and Australia./.