SYDNEY: Australia and Vietnam agreed on Tuesday (Aug 11) to deepen their complete strategic partnership, signing cooperation agreements spanning defence, agriculture and border safety.
The 2 nations additionally voiced concern about restrictive commerce practices that disrupt international provide chains, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese President To Lam stated in a joint assertion issued throughout Lam’s official go to to Australia.
They agreed to strengthen cooperation on provide chains in areas together with important minerals, semiconductors and clear power, the assertion stated.
The leaders witnessed the trade of a memorandum of understanding between the Vietnam Coast Guard and the Australian Border Power to cooperate on maritime regulation enforcement.
One other was signed to reinforce cooperation and mutual help between the 2 nations’ border forces, Vietnam’s authorities stated in a separate assertion.
“We agree that, amid speedy and sophisticated developments world wide, nations must strengthen dialogue, construct belief, guarantee safety, security and freedom of navigation and overflight, and settle disputes by peaceable means in accordance with worldwide regulation,” Lam stated in a joint media look with Albanese.
Australia usually deploys naval vessels and surveillance plane within the South China Sea as a part of its Indo-Pacific operations.
In April, Australia joined Canada and the US in a multilateral transit by the waterway, the place Vietnam, China and a number of other different nations have overlapping territorial claims.
Bilateral commerce rose 22 per cent year-on-year within the first half of 2026 to US$8.1 billion, in response to the joint assertion.
Vietnam’s fundamental exports to Australia embody electronics, smartphones and clothes, whereas it imports Australian coal, minerals and pure gasoline.
