At the meeting, ASEAN leaders confirmed that Australia is an important economic partner of the group as their bilateral trade turnover topped 100 billion USD last year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a proposal on the initiative “Australia for the future of ASEAN”, and announced an additional 124 million Australian dollars for cooperation projects fighting emerging challenges in the region.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh praised efforts made by Australia for ASEAN’s fight against the pandemic, including Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government leader expressed his wish that Australia would continue backing ASEAN’s efforts in keeping peace, stability, security and aviation safety and freedom on the East Sea.

At the end of the summit, leaders of ASEAN and Australia agreed to lift the ties between the two sides to the Strategic Comprehensive Partnership./.