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Vietnam, Australia accord on ties

P. S. Suryanarayana

Pact on partnership between police forces to combat crimes

SINGAPORE: Vietnam and Australia on Thursday agreed to "expand exchanges in selected operational areas" such as defence, security and law enforcement.

The agreement, reached by Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Khai, in Canberra was spelt out in a joint statement. It endorsed plans to enhance cooperation in military training and intelligence.

The two leaders described the engagement on security-related issues as "significant and growing cooperation" that included a strong partnership between their police forces to combat trans-national crimes in Asia.

Move against terror

They agreed to strengthen cooperation in countering terrorism and sharing of information and experience in fighting other crimes. The two police forces had finalised a new memorandum of understanding.

Australia supported Vietnam's bid to join the World Trade Organisation, with Mr. Howard saying, at a post-summit press conference, that it should be possible to reach a bilateral understanding on issues related to Hanoi's accession to the WTO. Vietnam accepted Australia's offer to help in organising the summit and other meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum toward the end of 2006.

Vietnam expressed support for Australia's participation in the first-ever East Asia Summit (EAS) to be held in Malaysia by the end of 2005 under the overall auspices of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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