LookAtVietnam – The two-way trade between Vietnam and Australia has more than doubled over the past five years and is now worth nearly AUD8 billion, and the trade ties are poised to grow stronger in the future,

HCMC vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong said at the function that “Australia is Vietnam’s third largest export destination now.”

She provided a much bigger bilateral trade volume between the two countries, saying “The two-way trade has reached more than US$7 billion last year.”

Apart from trade, Aussie investment in Vietnam in general and in HCMC in particular is also significant. Hong said Australian investment capital to Vietnam already amounted to over US$1 billion.

Last year the city had 16 more Australian projects which increased the number of Australian investment projects in the city to 81 with a total capital of more than US$200 million. The cooperation ties between HCMC and the Australian state of Queensland was estimated also highly, especially in the sectors of urban traffic, English training for HCMC’s primary teachers, education and other fields.

“There are now over 15,000 Vietnamese students studying in Australia, more than in any other English-speaking country,” said Swift.

VietNamNet/SGT