Last update 26/02/2013 (GMT+7)
...The relationship has flourished (click here) in both width and depth after the two countries established the comprehensive partnership in 2009. High-level exchanges and dialogues including visits by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Defence Minister Stephen Smith last year further deepened bilateral political and security cooperation, Thanh said.
In terms of economic relations, Australia is now the eighth largest trade partner and the 18 th biggest foreign investor in Vietnam. Two-way trade hit 5 billion USD in 2012, a fifteen fold increase from 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the people-to-people relations have laid an important social foundation to consolidate friendship and mutual understanding in all fields, such as culture, education, sports, information dissemination and trading.
Thanh said he hopes thanks to joint efforts by the two Governments and peoples, the Vietnam – Australia cooperation and friendship will continue to see strong growth....
Vietnam has come forward to support the United Nation's Peacekeeper forces.
7:22 PM Tuesday Feb 26, 2013
...Facing a rising demand, (click here) the UN has publicly appealed for countries to send more troops and police officers to help carry out its peacekeeping missions around the world. Vietnam didn't say how large a contribution it was prepared to make. Most of the 115 participating countries currently make only token contributions of less than 40 people.
State-controlled Tien Phong newspaper on Tuesday quoted Vice Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh as telling visiting assistant General Secretary Edmond Mulet that Vietnamese troops would be available from early next year. The report gave few other details.
Vietnam opened its economy to foreign investment in the 1990s and has followed a steady policy of embracing regional and international institutions. But the communist rulers of the country's 87 million people have shown no sign of relaxing bans on freedom of speech and political activism even as they seek greater global clout....
