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Thayer Consultancy Background Brief

ABN # 65 648 097 123


Vietnam’s Prime Minister to
Visit New Zealand and Australia
March 11, 2018

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is heading to New Zealand and Australia for his first
visit after Tet. The Vietnamese Lunar New Year.
We request your assessment of the following issues:
Q1. How important is Prime Minister's Phuc visit to Australia and New Zealand this
time?
ANSWER: Prime Minister's Phuc visit is important because he is making separate
officials visits to Wellington and Canberra prior to the Australia-ASEAN Summit in
Sydney. This indicates the importance New Zealand and Australia place on their
relations with Vietnam and, vice versa, the importance Vietnam places on these two
countries.
Prime Minister Phuc's visit comes after the signing of the Comprehensive and Progress
Agreement for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) in Chile. This will elevate the
importance of economic issues in Vietnam's relations with New Zealand and Australia,
both of whom supported the original Trans Pacific Partnership along with Vietnam.
The year Vietnam will make a major contribution to international peacekeeping with
the deployment of a Level II Field Hospital to the United Nations Mission to the South
Sudan. Both New Zealand and Australia have shared their experiences in UN
peacekeeping with Vietnam and both have contributed to assist Vietnam in building
up its capacity for such a mission.
Q2. With the recent signing of TPP-11, will Prime Minister Phuc’s visits to New Zealand
and Australia add more momentum to this newly-minted multilateral trade
agreement?
ANSWER: The TPP-11 should be set in the context of the AANZFTA or ASEAN Australia
New Zealand Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 2010. Prime Minister
Phuc's visit should serve as a catalyst for the development of closer ties with both New
Zealand and Australia.
PM Phuc will raise bilateral relations with Australia to a strategic partnership.
Economic issues will become more important and will lead to the establishment of a
ministerial-level consultation on the economic partnership to align trade, investment
and development assistance to promote the greater integration of these two
countries with each other and the regional economy.
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Q3. How important is the new strategic partnership expected to be announced this
trip between Vietnam and Australia? How will these two countries benefit from this
upgrade?
ANSWER: Vietnam places strategic partnerships at the top of its bilateral relations. Up
to now Australia has been a comprehensive partner. The agreement on a strategic
partnership will mean that each side will gain access to the top leaders of the other
sides on a regular basis. The strategic partnership will set out the priority areas of
cooperation and a Plan of Action will map out how these objectives can be met.
Vietnam and Australia have witnessed a growing convergence of national interests on
a wide variety of issues. Vietnam is now playing an increasing prominent role in
regional affairs.
The strategic partnership agreement will bring these two countries together to
cooperate in six major areas: trade and investment, development assistance,
education, political and diplomacy, defence and security, science and technology and
people-to-people exchanges.
Q4. Will this upgrade add to the new free and open Indo-Pacific Region supported by
Washington?
ANSWER: Australia and Vietnam share the same interests with respect to the South
China Sea. They agree on the importance of freedom of navigation and over flight in
the South China Sea, the settlement of disputes by peaceful means without the threat
or use of force in accord with international law including the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Australia and Vietnam also agree that all parties should exercise self-restraint and
avoid actions that could erode trust and undermine efforts to manage tensions
peacefully, such as militarisation of disputes on land features. Both sides support the
full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China
Sea and the early conclusion of a legally-binding Code of Conduct.
Australia is a military ally of the United States. The U.S. just concluded its first port visit
by an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to Da Nang. The relationship among these
three countries, and other, contributes materially to a free and open Indo-Pacific
region.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam’s Prime Minister to Visit New Zealand
and Australia,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, March 11, 2018. All background
briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the
mailing list type, UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key.

Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.

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