Within the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Pilot Program, sponsored by DFAT, this workshop aims to promote bilateral trade, investment, and other economic cooperation between the two countries.
On 20 April 2023, UTS and Vietnam General Consulate in Sydney co-organized the “Boosting Vietnam & Australia Economic Engagement” workshop with the participation of nearly 80 delegates, including the Head of Trade and Investment Representative of New South Wales, the Chairman of the Australian Export Council, the leadership board of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and representatives from Australia’s and Vietnam’s associations and businesses. More than 30 delegates and leaders from local provinces like Bac Lieu and Hanam visited Sydney to attend the workshop.
Boosting Vietnam & Australia Economic Engagement workshop on April 20 at UTS, co-organized by UTS, Vietnam General Consulate in Sydney, sponsored by the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Program
Opening the workshop, Prof. Glen Wightwick, Deputy Vice Chancellor – Enterprise, acknowledged DFAT for supporting the event through an AVEG grant. He also reiterated UTS’s commitment to international, innovation, and industry-focused education.
“Being one of the world’s most dynamic and successful economies over the last 10 years, Vietnam has presented the world with great partners for research, technology, and education collaborations” - Prof Wightwick stated.
He thanked students and partners from Vietnam for their contribution to research and teaching innovation at UTS. UTS currently operates two Joint Research Centres in Vietnam. Through government and industry funding schemes such as Aus4Innovation and Google Innovation, UTS researchers have successfully delivered several large research projects in Vietnam with tangible outcomes for the local population and businesses.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Thang, the Consul General of Vietnam in Sydney, highlighted recent success in bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Australia to elevate cooperation in trade, culture exchange, and regional security between the two countries.
Representatives from Australian trade and business organizations, e.g., Rob Gordon, CEO of SunRice, affirmed that Vietnam continues to be their foremost important trading and investment partner in the region. At the same time, Australian delegates praised the support of the Vietnamese government and localities in implementing projects for Australian businesses in Vietnam. They wanted to enhance cooperation and deepen the relationship between the two sides in trade and investment.
SunRice CEO, Rob Gordon, speaks at the workshop.
After 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations, Vietnam and Australia have become leading economic partners in many fields, including trade, investment, development cooperation, agriculture, education, and training. As of March 2023, Australian businesses have invested in 593 projects in Vietnam with about 2 billion USD in registered capital. Australia ranks 20th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, focusing on industries such as processing, manufacturing, hospitality and food services, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
Mr. Pham Van Thieu, Chairman of Bac Lieu Province and Mrs Dinh Thi Lua, Deputy Secretary of Ha Nam Province Committee with Australian business leaders.
“UTS has been actively building relationships with Vietnam through various research, industry and government collaborations over the last five years, e.g., through two joint research centres in Vietnam and two Aus4Innovation projects funded by the Australian government. I am very pleased that UTS' engineering and technology expertise played an important role in shaping the partnership's priorities, including promoting innovation and entrepreneurship and strengthening bilateral trade and investment” said Prof. Michael Blumenstein, Dean of Faculty of Engineering and IT, UTS.
The university's strong ties with the Vietnamese government and business community facilitated the development of the Economic Strategic Partnership, which aimed to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries. Through its contributions to the partnership, UTS has helped foster closer ties between Vietnam and Australia, creating economic growth and sustainable development opportunities in both countries.
The UTS project team includes Professor Eryk Dutkiewicz, Associate Prof. Diep N. Nguyen, Prof. Long Nghiem, Dr. Hoang Thai Dinh, Dr. Thuy Pham.