Vietnam and Australia can deepen their cooperation in areas such as education, agricultural development and mineral ore exploration, Australia’s Chief Minister of the Northern Territory has suggested.
Adam Giles made the statement during a recent meeting with the Consulate General of Vietnam in Perth.
He voiced his hope that relations between the Northern Territory and Vietnamese localities including Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau will be further bolstered during his upcoming scheduled visit to Vietnam.
Consul General to Perth Le Viet Duyen in turn noted Vietnam and the Northern Territory are partners on a number of fronts including trade, livestock, and seafood.
He stressed his office is implementing a number of activities to further boost economic and trade relations along with enhancing cultural exchanges between the two countries.
He also proposed the organizing board of Darwin festival join hands with Vietnam to promote culture exchanges between Vietnam’s Central Highlands and Australian Aboriginal people in future festivals.
The Northern Territory is now one of the leading economic locomotives in Australia with its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for 2013 estimated at 5%, worth nearly AUD20 billion.
The Consulate General of Vietnam in Perth also met with overseas Vietnamese in Australia’s Northern Territory to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) on February 2.
Participants included leaders from the Territory and Darwin city, the Vietnamese community and representatives from Darwin’s multi-ethnic residents.
Addressing the event, Le Viet Duyen recounted Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements in 2013 in addition to activities marking the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
He emphasized that the overseas Vietnamese community is an integral part of Vietnam and expressed his hope that they will continue to contribute to the economic development of the country.
He also thanked the local authorities and people for helping the Vietnamese community integrate into society over recent years.
Darwin's Lord Mayor Katrina Fong Lim spoke admirably of the Vietnamese community’s activities to preserve and uphold the national identity in the state and expressed her sincere pleasure that Vietnam will attend Darwin festival this year.
She affirmed that the city will strive to create favorable conditions to assist the Vietnamese community, contributing to further enhancing ever deepening relations between the two countries.
VOV
Vietnamese
