A Vietnamese workers in Australia. Photo: Thanh Nien Newspaper

Australia on March 28 informed that it has signed with Vietnam the first bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Australian Agriculture Visa Programme.

In a press release, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said Vietnam’s participation in this programme strengthens and extends the nations’ already rich people-to-people links.

For decades, Vietnamese workers, students, businesspeople, and tourists have made extensive contributions to Australia. The Australian Government looks forward to this continuing under the programme.

Vietnam’s early participation in the Australian Agriculture Visa Program demonstrates the Morrison Government’s commitment to deepening cooperation under the Australia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership.

It is a key initiative of the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy launched by the two countries’ Prime Ministers on November 1, 2021.

Representatives from Vietnam's Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the signing ceremony. Photo: VNA

“Australia and Vietnam share a strong and optimistic agenda in our relationship. We are bound by warm ties of friendship and family that extend across every level of community, government and business. This step reflects what is possible when we work together,” the Minister said.

The Australian Agriculture Visa Programme is intended to provide a sustainable, long-term contribution to Australia’s labour supply that supports Australia’s agricultural and primary industry sectors. It supplements the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, which remains the mainstay for meeting agricultural workforce shortages in our primary industries sector and the key solution for the current harvest.

Under the Australian Agriculture Visa Programme, employees will be recruited to work across a range of agriculture sectors, including horticulture, dairy, wool, grains, fisheries and forestry, including support services and primary processing.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh expressed his hope that the MoU will mark the start of a sustainable co-operation process between both sides, including in the industrial and service sectors, VOV reported.

He noted that both the Vietnamese and Australian economies are highly complementary, particularly as both countries share intertwined interests.

The diplomat added that flourishing co-operation in education, training, and vocational training over the years will provide a basis for mutually-beneficial and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the labour field in the future./.

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