Starting in 2019, Australia will fund one representative from each ASEAN state, including Vietnam to study in Australia and an Australian scholar.

“This program will be the first of its kind for ASEAN defense officials. It will see ASEAN’s and Australia’s best and brightest working together to share their experiences and develop their strategic thinking,” said Senator, the Hon. Marise Payne, Australian Minister for Defense.

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Senator, the Hon. Marise Payne, Australian Minister for Defense inspecting the Computers Assisted Language Lab at Unit 871, Hanoi, Vietnam in 2017

“It will help us build our collective capacity to deliver sophisticated and effective regional defense cooperation in a dynamic regional security environment," said the Minister.

Colonel Nerolie McDonald, the Australian Defense Attaché to Vietnam said, “Australia commenced the Defense Cooperation Program with Vietnam in 1999. Since then, we have provided more than 2,000 training positions for Vietnamese defense personnel including defense scholarships in Australia and Vietnam. This new initiative will be such a great addition to the bilateral and multilateral defense relations.”

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2017 Vietnamese Post Graduates Defense Scholarship students at the Defense International Training Center, Laverton, Victoria

“I am confident that personnel from the Vietnamese People’s Army will seek to take up this opportunity. Vietnamese Defense students are outstanding performers in our Defense Cooperation Program courses and I know they will do well again in this program,” said the Defense Attaché.

ASEAN and Australia share common security concerns and regional challenges, and have been working together to achieve the common goal of protecting and promoting a stable rules-based global order.

Australia strongly supports the contribution of the ASEAN-led regional security architecture to security and stability in South East Asia. This includes fostering practical defense cooperation within the ADMM-Plus framework. The ASEAN-Australia Defense Scholarship will support the ASEAN-Australia Plan of Action to implement the Strategic Partnership, notably by enhancing defense cooperation.

Song Anh