Justin McGowan, chief executive officer for Trade and Investment of Queensland, made the statement whilst speaking at a recent meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam.

McGowan outlined to the Vietnamese diplomat that he welcomes the greater attention and presence of Vietnamese businesses based in Queensland, including Sofico Group, Vingroup, TH Group, and VietJet Air. He pledged to create favourable conditions specifically for other businesses in a bid to promote investment and trade in the state.

The Australian official also highlighted Queensland’s various potential and strengths, especially in terms of agriculture, mining, renewable energy, and education.

He consented to co-ordinate efforts alongside the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia to welcome Vietnamese delegations to Queensland in the time ahead. He outlined his hope that both sides will strive to intensify activities in a bid to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, especially between friendship parliamentary groups of the two countries.

For his part, Ambassador Tam voiced his appreciation for the important position and role of Queensland, stating that the two sides have huge potential for greater collaboration, especially in relation to trade and investment. The diplomat said that he hopes both sides will move to increase two-way investment, including considering promoting investment in new fields such as clean energy and digital transformation, as well as expanding investment in potential areas such as high-quality agriculture.

He asked for Queensland’s co-ordination to support Vietnamese delegations that will visit the state in the future as they seek investment and business opportunities in the coming time. The Ambassador expressed his wish that the state will hasten the renewal of its collaboration agreements with Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

The same day saw the Vietnamese diplomat meet with Michael Outram, commissioner of the Australian Border Force (ABF), at the ABF office, during which he suggested both sides go ahead with working on carrying out important outcomes achieved during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Australia last March, particularly in security and defence ties.

The Vietnamese diplomat applauded the results recorded in Outram's visit to Vietnam, welcoming the signing of a plan on customs investigation collaboration and a Letter of Intent on negotiations on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to beef up co-operation between Vietnamese Border Guard Command and the ABF. He said that he had high hopes that the two sides will soon sign the MoU in the near future.

Ambassador Tam also asked for the two sides' continued joint work to speed up the organisation of the first ministerial-level security dialogue this year and outlined his expectation that ABF will continue to support Vietnam in customs, English language training, crime, and illegal migration control.

Source: VOV