It’s great to be here in Hanoi, and what a day it’s been a visit to RMIT campus to launch their new Hanoi Industry and Innovation Hub, a pit-stop for beers and banh mi – to showcase Australian barley and wheat, and now here to highlight the incredible work of the business community.
I’m proud to visit Vietnam during our 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
It was the foresight of one of my predecessors – Gough Whitlam – that started us on this journey.
Fifty years on, that foresight has translated into a relationship underpinned by respect and trust.
No one knows this better than the business community – all of you here today.
The mutual trust we have today can be traced back to pioneering Australian companies — big names like ANZ, Allens and RMIT — that helped link Vietnam to the world.
Today, we have a swathe of Australian education institutions — Monash, Swinburne, UTS, WSU, and, of course, RMIT — investing in the education of Vietnam’s next generation of students.
We have agricultural innovators, such as Orlar, and Mavin Group, investing across the country, including in the Mekong Delta, scaling up their Vietnam investments.
And then there are the Australian manufacturing heavy-hitters, like Bluescope, building the products the world wants and needs.
Many leaders in our region recognised long ago the benefits of working together.
They understood that joining forces — promoting easier trade and investment in Southeast Asia — would benefit all of us.
And Vietnam’s journey to an economic powerhouse is a testament to that foresight.
Today, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing countries in the region.
Its economic dynamism is a remarkable achievement.
Australia wants to continue to be a partner with Vietnam as it grows.
Australian expertise — in education and skills, agriculture technology, resilience and renewable energy — can make a huge contribution.
In fact, to eat a Vietnamese banh mi — as I did just this afternoon — knowing the baguette is made from Australian wheat, tells you a lot about the complementarity of our economies.
Our two-way trade reached more than $22 billion last financial year — up 40 per cent from the year before.
But I know there’s room to do more.
We see trade diversification as a mutually important – and beneficial – priority.
Our Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy hopes to enrich our natural partnership.
The Strategy sets two goals: to become top-10 trading partners, and to double two-way investment.
Achieving them will depend on us working with you and innovators like you, on both sides of the commercial relationship.
My job is to champion strong, trusted trading relationships, wherever I can.
To make clear that we pursue trade not simply for the sake of it, but for the flow-on benefits for our workforces, our entrepreneurs and our people.
So it’s a pleasure to have the chance to do that today.
And to say a direct thank you to the businesses – Australian and Vietnamese – that are the backbone of the warm and productive friendship Vietnam and Australia share.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you.