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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang welcomes Australian Deputy Secretary of Strategy, Policy and International Hugh Jeffrey. |
The event was held under the co-chair of Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang, Deputy Minister of National Defense, and Hugh Jeffrey, Australian Deputy Secretary of Strategy, Policy and International.
During the dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang highlighted the strong development of bilateral relations, particularly since the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in March 2024. Talking about defense ties, he noted that the two sides have effectively carried out delegation exchanges, high-level contacts, dialogue and consultation mechanisms, training, U.N. peacekeeping, cooperation between arms and services, defense industry, war legacy settlement, military medicine, and search and rescue.
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An overview of the 9th Viet Nam-Australia Defense Policy Dialogue |
He thanked the Australian Department of Defense for the eighth consecutive time for supporting the transportation of Viet Nam's Level-2 Field Hospital to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.
Looking ahead, he called on both sides to effectively implement their leaders' shared understandings and the updated Joint Vision Statement on Promoting Defense Cooperation, signed in August 2026. Priority areas include delegation exchanges, consultation and dialogue mechanisms, training, U.N. peacekeeping, war legacy remediation, military medicine, border management, and cooperation between arms and services. He also encouraged expanding cooperation in the defense industry, cybersecurity, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, science and technology, and innovation, while strengthening mutual support at regional and international defense and security forums.
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Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang speaks at the dialogue. |
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Australian Deputy Secretary of Strategy, Policy and International Hugh Jeffrey speaks at the dialogue. |
Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang expressed his hope that Australia would continue offering scholarships to Vietnamese personnel at various training levels. Viet Nam, in turn, stands ready to receive Australian military personnel for Vietnamese language courses and the International Defense Officials Course.
He also welcomed the participation of an Australian Army delegation in the 3rd Viet Nam Defense Expo, scheduled to take place in Ha Noi from December 10 to 13, 2026.
For his part, the Australian official described the dialogue as an opportunity to further deepen bilateral defense cooperation. He proposed continuing to implement agreed initiatives and exploring new areas based on both countries' needs and interests, particularly maritime security and search and rescue, to make the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership increasingly substantive and effective.
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Delegations from both countries attend the dialogue. |
He also reaffirmed Australia's commitment to sharing information and documents related to Vietnamese service-members and supporting Viet Nam in strengthening its DNA testing capabilities to identify martyr remains. This assistance would contribute to Viet Nam's 500-day campaign to accelerate the search for, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains.
The two sides also exchanged views on global and regional developments and issues of mutual concern. Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang reaffirmed Viet Nam's consistent position of resolving maritime disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He also emphasized the effective and full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (also known as South China Sea) and the development of a substantive, effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
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The two sides sign the minutes of the dialogue. |
The Australian Deputy Secretary of Strategy, Policy and International noted that the two countries shared common views on many regional and international issues. He emphasized that both were maritime nations and reaffirmed Australia's support for respect for national sovereignty and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.
The dialogue concluded with the signing of its minutes.
Translated by Tran Hoai