President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosts a reception for Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in Hanoi. (photo: VOV)

President Phuc expressed his belief that the visit will make important contributions to promoting the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia.

Mrs. Wong affirmed that Australia highly valued the role and position of Vietnam in the region, and was committed to continuing to bolster the strategic partnership with Vietnam.
She said with the outcomes of the earlier talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son the same day, the Australian side will coordinate closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies of Vietnam to make the Australia-Vietnam strategic partnership deeper, more practical and effective towards a new height, while expanding the ties to other promising areas such as climate change, green growth, and education-training.

Wong agreed with President Phuc’s proposal to continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work in Australia and integrate into the local community, thus making positive contributions to the sound relationship between the two countries.

Regarding the regional and international situation, the minister affirmed that Australia attaches great importance to ASEAN's central role and the Australia-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.
Australia will continue to pay attention to strengthening cooperation with the Mekong sub-region and support the maintenance of peace, stability as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and the respect for international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).