Speaking at the meeting, Minister Ngo Van Tuan emphasised that Viet Nam and Australia have enjoyed strong friendship and cooperation over more than 50 years of diplomatic relations, which were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on March 7, 2024. Under the new framework, economic, trade and investment cooperation remains one of the key pillars of bilateral relations, with considerable room for further expansion.
Discussing economic and trade ties, the Minister said two-way trade reached approximately 8.2 billion USD in the first six months of 2026, up 21.9% year on year, demonstrating that bilateral trade continues to expand both in scale and pace. He called on Australia to further facilitate two-way investment flows, with a view to doubling bilateral investment and raising two-way trade to 20 billion USD, in line with the Viet Nam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES).
Minister Ngo Van Tuan also proposed strengthening cooperation in finance and banking, capital markets and green finance — areas in which Australia has considerable expertise and for which Viet Nam has growing demand as it advances its economic development.
The Minister also highlighted the strong people-to-people links between the two countries, noting that Australia is currently home to more than 400,000 people of Vietnamese origin, as well as around 25,000 Vietnamese students. This represents an important resource for strengthening people-to-people exchanges, tourism, education and economic connectivity between the two countries.
Minister Ngo Van Tuan thanked the Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for its commitment to provide Viet Nam with a total of 98.3 million AUD in grant assistance for the 2026-2027 period. The funding will contribute to activities under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Development Partnership Plan between the two countries.
Viet Nam hopes Australia will continue to maintain and expand its ODA support, with a focus on climate change response, high-quality infrastructure development and other priority areas for Viet Nam.
Minister Tuan noted that Viet Nam aims to become a high-income, developed country by 2045, requiring the country to sustain high growth rates in the years ahead. In this process, high technology, innovation and the private sector have been identified as key drivers of growth.
Amid the increasingly severe impacts of climate change and sea-level rise, Viet Nam hopes Australia will continue to provide technological expertise, experience and resources to help strengthen climate resilience, develop sustainable infrastructure and advance the country’s green transition goals.
Recognising Australia’s strengths in agriculture, livestock production, mining and mineral processing, Minister Ngo Van Tuan called on Australia to help connect Viet Nam with businesses possessing strong technological capabilities, financial resources and expertise to invest in the country.
The Minister cited SunRice, an Australian company successfully investing in Viet Nam’s rice and food sector, with activities spanning seed improvement, production and harvesting to processing. He noted that such projects not only add value to agricultural products but also help bring advanced technologies and production methods to Viet Nam. Viet Nam hopes Australia will introduce more companies with similar capabilities to expand investment cooperation.
In the minerals sector, Viet Nam seeks to strengthen cooperation with Australia in exploration, mining and, particularly, deep processing of minerals, building on the country’s potential in rare earths, nickel and other critical minerals. The Minister called on Australia to connect Viet Nam with companies possessing advanced technologies, management expertise and the capacity for long-term investment.
In the energy sector, Viet Nam continues to have substantial demand for energy to support its growth objectives, while accelerating the development of new and renewable energy sources and energy infrastructure. The Minister noted that Viet Nam is currently one of the major importers of Australian coal and hopes to maintain and expand cooperation in this area, while exploring opportunities in gas-fired power, offshore wind power and other energy projects.
The two sides also discussed the potential for cooperation in regional energy connectivity, power infrastructure development and energy solutions to support digital transformation, artificial intelligence and industrial development.
Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, said there remains considerable room for further growth in Viet Nam-Australia trade. He noted that bilateral trade has expanded significantly in recent years and that Australia is keen to further strengthen economic ties with Viet Nam.
Minister Don Farrell highly valued Viet Nam’s development goals, including its ambition to become a developed country by 2045, and affirmed Australia’s desire to be an important partner in Viet Nam’s transformation and development.
Referring to the Vietnamese community in Australia, Minister Farrell described it as an important bridge for further promoting tourism, people-to-people exchanges and economic ties between the two countries.
He said Australia is implementing programmes and providing resources to help Australian businesses explore new markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, and expressed his country’s willingness to support Australian companies in identifying and expanding investment and business opportunities in Viet Nam.
Australia welcomed Viet Nam’s priority areas and expressed its readiness to hold more in-depth discussions on cooperation opportunities in agriculture, minerals, energy and other areas of mutual interest.
Minister Ngo Van Tuan called on Australia to continue supporting Viet Nam at multilateral forums in the common interests of both countries, while also backing Viet Nam in successfully hosting APEC 2027, including the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting 2027.
On this occasion, Minister Tuan invited Minister Don Farrell to lead the Australian delegation to the 5th Viet Nam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting (EPM), scheduled to be held in Ha Noi in November 2026.
He stressed that the 5th EPM would provide an opportunity for the two sides to review progress in implementing the Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES) and the 2024-2027 Action Programme, while discussing and agreeing on cooperation priorities for the next stage. Viet Nam stands ready to work with Australia in preparing the meeting’s agenda and substantive content, with the designated agencies of both sides continuing consultations to determine a suitable date in accordance with the two ministers’ schedules.
The two ministers agreed to maintain close coordination, make effective use of bilateral economic cooperation mechanisms and facilitate greater investment and business activities by companies from both countries. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation in promising areas, thereby making substantive contributions to the Viet Nam-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
On the occasion, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan received and held talks with Treasurer of Australia Jim Chalmers in Sydney on the same day.
Minister Ngo Van Tuan affirmed that Viet Nam attaches great importance to its relations with Australia across diplomacy, politics, economics, trade and investment. He also thanked the Australian Government and people, the Australian Treasury, and successive Australian ambassadors to Viet Nam for their continued support throughout the country’s process of renewal and socio-economic development.
Against this backdrop, Viet Nam hopes the Australian Government will continue providing ODA, particularly for climate-resilient infrastructure projects, while sharing experience and providing technical assistance to support reforms and enhance the efficiency of public financial management.
Discussing the Viet Nam-Australia Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Cooperation for the 2024-2028 period, Minister Ngo Van Tuan stressed that the document provides an important foundation for the two ministries to move from broad exchanges towards substantive policy dialogue and specialised cooperation. The meeting offered an opportunity for the two sides to review progress in implementing the MoU and discuss future directions for cooperation.
Building on the positive outcomes of the ministerial-level bilateral financial cooperation MoU for 2021-2023, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and the Australian Treasury signed a new MoU on financial cooperation for 2024-2028 in 2024.
The two ministries have implemented the MoU through a range of policy dialogue activities. The Viet Nam-Australia Financial Policy Dialogue, held in 2024 and 2025, focused on macroeconomic issues, fiscal and budgetary policy, financial market supervision, taxation and sustainable finance.
Building on these cooperation outcomes, Minister Ngo Van Tuan proposed that the two sides further strengthen professional and technical exchanges in areas where Australia has expertise and Viet Nam has significant demand.
First, regarding budget formulation and the medium-term fiscal framework, Viet Nam hopes to learn from Australia’s experience in federal budget preparation, medium-term fiscal frameworks, fiscal and budgetary analysis and forecasting, and assessments of revenue sources and expenditure needs. Viet Nam is also interested in examining the impacts of population ageing, climate change and technological transformation on the state budget.
Second, regarding tax policy and business support, Viet Nam is interested in Australia’s experience in tax policymaking, the pension system and support for small businesses. It also seeks more in-depth exchanges and technical assistance in reforming the tax system and managing activities in the digital economy.
Third, regarding financial and capital market development, Viet Nam hopes to draw on Australia’s experience in financial market regulation, promoting competition, and protecting consumers and investors, thereby contributing to the development of a transparent, long-term capital market and the effective mobilisation of green finance.
Viet Nam is actively working to strengthen its standing in international financial markets, including through its market upgrade by FTSE Russell, while continuing to engage with MSCI to improve conditions for a future market upgrade. These efforts are expected to help attract substantial, long-term capital for development investment.
Fourth, regarding climate finance and the energy transition, Viet Nam is interested in Australia’s experience and policy research capabilities in managing climate-related fiscal risks, financing the energy transition, and mobilising private capital for infrastructure development. These are areas of particular importance to Viet Nam as it works towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Minister Ngo Van Tuan also called on Australia to continue supporting Viet Nam in human resource development, including strengthening English-language proficiency, in line with the country’s goal of making English a second language in Viet Nam.
The Minister expressed his hope that the meeting would generate fresh momentum for cooperation between the two ministries, enabling their specialised agencies to identify specific deliverables, timelines and focal points for cooperation during the 2026-2028 period.
Turning to APEC, Minister Ngo Van Tuan said Viet Nam is actively preparing to host APEC 2027. He highly valued Australia’s role in APEC and proposed that the two countries continue their close coordination on APEC financial cooperation.
Viet Nam’s proposed priorities for APEC 2027 are expected to focus on mobilising capital for innovation; promoting data-driven finance to facilitate small and medium-sized enterprises’ access to long-term funding; diversifying sources and mechanisms for mobilising development finance; and enhancing the quality of young human resources in the financial sector.
Viet Nam looks forward to Australia’s views on these priorities and hopes Australia will support them in principle, while encouraging technical-level officials from both sides to continue consultations with a view to building consensus in the preparations for APEC 2027.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers congratulated Viet Nam on its economic development achievements and progress in reforms and in strengthening its position in international financial markets. He also welcomed and highly valued Viet Nam’s ambitious growth targets, affirming Australia’s readiness to support and accompany Viet Nam in pursuing its development goals.
Treasurer Chalmers also spoke positively of the four priorities Viet Nam plans to advance during APEC 2027, noting that Australia could contribute to each of these areas. He affirmed that Australia would coordinate with Viet Nam at various levels, from diplomatic missions to the two countries’ economic and financial agencies, throughout Viet Nam’s preparations for and hosting of APEC 2027.
Minister Ngo Van Tuan extended an invitation to Treasurer Jim Chalmers to visit Viet Nam and attend the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting 2027, scheduled to take place in Ha Long, Quang Ninh Province, in October 2027.
The two ministers agreed to continue making effective use of the cooperation mechanism established under the 2024-2028 Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Cooperation, strengthen policy dialogue and professional exchanges in areas of mutual interest, and coordinate closely in preparing and implementing finance-related initiatives for APEC 2027.
Viet Nam’s Ministry of Finance affirmed its readiness to continue serving as a focal point for strengthening connections between Australia, Australian businesses and the Vietnamese and ASEAN markets, while coordinating with Australia at regional forums and contributing to the further development of the Viet Nam-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
