Australian Embassy
Vietnam

MR090722BusinessDelegationVisit

DATE: 22 July 2009
SUBJECTS: Trade; Business

Senior business delegation to join visit by Australia’s Trade Minister to Vietnam


A senior Australian business delegation will accompany Australia’s Minister for Trade, the Hon Simon Crean MP, on his visit to Hanoi for the 8th Australia-Vietnam Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee (JTECC) on 24 July 2009.

The delegation will comprise senior Australian business representatives from the education and training, financial services, infrastructure and environmental management, and energy, oil and gas sectors: ANZ Banking Group, Box Hill Institute, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, CPA Australia, Export Finance Investment Corporation, GHD International, Leighton Contractors, RMIT Vietnam, Santos Ltd, SMEC, Victoria University, Worley Parsons and Xstrata Coal.

Through dialogues with Ministers and a Vietnamese business delegation the delegation will provide an important business perspective on ways to further industry development and growth through a broader and deeper trade and investment relationship between Australia and Vietnam.

Australian Senior Trade Commissioner, Mr Tony Burchill, highlighted the importance of the visit to furthering the Australia-Vietnam relationship. “Australia has a significant trade relationship with Vietnam and the Australian business presence in Vietnam is growing across a range of sectors. In 2008, two-way trade between our countries was more than $US5 billion with Australia experiencing strong growth in areas such as education services and building and construction.

“The delegation, which includes representation from a number of major Australian businesses with an established presence in Vietnam, provides an opportunity to build on this relationship,” Mr Burchill said.

In addition to participating in JTECC, delegates will meet with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank and hold roundtable discussions on industry development, education and training, and infrastructure issues in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on 24 and 25 July.