[Acknowledgements Omitted]
It's a privilege to join you here this afternoon.
As Australia's Minister for International Development, I'm grateful for this opportunity to speak with you about our partnership, and how it not only contributes to the prosperity and growth of Vietnam but also to the future of our region.
Australia is deeply committed to our partnership with Vietnam.
And against a backdrop of profound global change and uncertainty, Australia is unwavering in this commitment.
Our two countries share a vision for our region and its future.
A vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.
And a future where sovereignty is respected, and countries are able to make their own choices.
Neither of us can achieve this vision alone.
And this is why Australia's partnership with Vietnam – a partnership of over fifty years – is so important.
It is an expansive partnership spanning across trade and investment, defence and security, science, technology, education and the clean energy transition, and development cooperation.
At a time when some development partners are stepping back from Vietnam and the region, Australia has chosen to stay the course.
We remain a reliable and trusted partner, not simply through our words but through our actions.
We have shown up and will continue to show up.
We will listen to and respect your priorities as a partner.
And we will help you reach your development aspirations as a partner.
This year, we will invest an estimated 98.3 million Australian dollars in development assistance in Vietnam.
A more prosperous and resilient Vietnam is also a more prosperous and resilient region.
Our development cooperation is an investment in our shared region and shared future.
The lives, and livelihoods, of both our people depend on it.
Because at its core, the partnership between our two countries is grounded by our people.
The story of Vietnamese-Australians is one which predates the diplomatic relations between our two countries.
It is a story which stretches back centuries.
And today, Vietnamese-Australians are woven into every part of Australian society.
Across our regions, suburbs and cities, Vietnamese-Australians are small business owners and entrepreneurs.
They are professionals, community leaders, and volunteers.
They are parents and grandparents who have worked hard to give the next generation of Australians even more opportunities to succeed.
The story of Vietnamese-Australians is, in many ways, the story of modern Australia: hard work and coming together to build a lasting community.
It is a story which is close to my heart.
And investing in people is an approach that is close to my heart.
I was born in Egypt, as a second girl child of Hamida and Mahmoud, a nurse and an engineer.
My family emigrated to Australia in 1969, when I was just two years old.
I was born a second girl child who was a granddaughter of a textile trader on the main road in El Minya in Egypt.
At the place and the time I was born, I should have only expected to be a second girl child and a granddaughter of a textile trader on the main road of El Minya in Egypt.
But that second girl child stands here today. As a Member of the Australian Parliament and as a Cabinet Minister in the Australian Government.
For that second girl child to be in this position to speak to you today points to the power of investing in an individual, in seeing their potential, in pulling them up and giving them a chance.
Because by giving individuals a chance, we can kickstart the sort of generational change that drives growth and prosperity well into the future.
For my part – it was my mum's father, my grandfather the textile trader, who made sure my mother finished school and went to nursing school – even as his customers and friends told him all she needed to know was how to cook, and clean, and look after her husband.
By investing in my mother, my grandfather ensured she had access to the many opportunities education can create.
And my mother made the most of those opportunities.
She went on to work as director of nursing in some of Australia's major hospitals – and as it happens, to look after former Australian Prime Minister John Howard's mother.
And this investment in the education of women in my family has trickled down the generations to me.
And today, I am someone who holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Postgraduate Diploma, a Master of Education, and a PhD.
And I'm using my education to shape positive change.
There are stories like this in Vietnam too.
Like Ms Pham Thi Thu Ha – from your Ministry of Agriculture and Environment – who, through the Vietnam Australia Centre, took part in the 'Women in Leadership Journey' training last year.
She took what she learned to a cooperative of Nung ethnic minority women – and worked with them to modernise their tea production and grow their market access.
The cooperative has now increased their revenue by over 20 per cent.
Their modern production systems have created more stable employment opportunities for local women.
By investing in Ms Pham's leadership potential, she has gone on to offer other women a real chance for financial independence.
All of this started as an investment in just one person who had a vision and potential.
And now this investment has rippled across an entire community, magnifying and multiplying that initial benefit, bringing systemic change and growth.
If you multiply that sort of impact across the over fifty years of Australian development cooperation in the skills sector in Vietnam, including the last ten years of the Aus4Skills program and our investment in the Vietnam Australia Centre.
The 141 women who have undertaken similar leadership training.
The 7,500 people who have attended Australian university on scholarships and returned with that knowledge and experience to Vietnam.
The more than 200 alumni-led small-scale projects funded across Vietnam, whether they bring inclusion, or sustainable rural development or economic transformation.
Well, just think of all the thousands of ripples outwards.
Spreading to families. Communities. Cities. Provinces. All across Vietnam.
These ripples are building more productive local economies, more resilient and stable systems, and more sustainable and lasting growth.
Skills development has been a priority for our bilateral development cooperation in Vietnam for more than 50 years.
And it will continue to be.
Today, I'm pleased to announce the third phase of our landmark Aus4SKills program.
Over the next 10 years, we will support more Australia Awards Scholarships, short courses, alumni engagement, vocational education, and public sector leadership training in Vietnam.
The program will focus on supporting the sort of inclusive development that will deliver long-term stability and growth for Vietnam.
Including by supporting emerging women leaders, public administration reform, and knowledge exchange between Vietnam and Australia.
So just like Ms Pham and the Nung women in the northeast of Vietnam.
Or others, like Ms Pham Thi Cuc Ha who after studying in Australia, integrated Australian educational approaches into Vietnamese schools, and created pathways for hundreds of students to study in Australia and build careers of their own.
Or Dr Pham Thu Thuy, an Australian university alumnus now recognised as a public policy leader on climate change for governments around the world.
Aus4Skills will look for and support people like this, who have the potential and the drive to shape change for the better.
And whose efforts, in turn, will transform lives, transform communities and transform local economies.
Investing in people – in all their diversity, regardless of their gender or ethnicity – and developing human capital in this way, is essential to unlocking any country's full potential.
Because a country's greatest asset lies in its people.
Today, I am also pleased to announce a new phase of our program with UN Women in Vietnam.
This program will expand support for women across Vietnam to access markets and supply chains.
And in turn, this will enable women to transform their entrepreneurship, and leadership potential into dividends for the economy.
Women like Ms Nguyen Tu - a free-range chicken farmer in Ninh Thuan.
Who, under the first phase of the program, was helped to secure contracts with two hotels in Da Nang – and now sees sales of 20,000 eggs every month.
These two new programs will work alongside our many other initiatives across various sectors.
Such as the Gender-Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism program, or GREAT as we call it, which is empowering ethnic minority women in north-west Vietnam to set up small businesses.
Or the Aus4Innovation program which is helping to strengthen Vietnam's science and innovation system.
All of this, rippling out, to support Vietnam's national ambition of achieving a high-income country status by 2045.
And I would like to congratulate Vietnam on implementing the landmark public administration reforms necessary to achieve this growth.
As we look to the future, we will need to navigate increasing uncertainty and change.
Challenges, which transcend boundaries and which no one country can tackle alone. Challenges like economic disruption and the digital transformation, climate change and food and water insecurity, conflict and transnational crime.
Geostrategic competition and the risk of miscalculation.
It is only through partnership which we can tackle what is ahead. And not just for the challenges, but also for the opportunities.
Countries like Vietnam and Australia have to work together.
To address the environmental and water challenges facing the Mekong as a result of climate change – including by supporting science and technology, government, and community-led adaptation solutions.
To grow our trade relationship under our Invested Strategy – including by building resilient, shock-proof supply chains for food, and energy, and other critical inputs.
To expand our defence and security cooperation – including by supporting maritime security capability and efforts to combat transnational crime.
And to do more together in ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms – which are central to regional stability and prosperity.
This is Australia's investment in our partnership with Vietnam.
And it is an investment that will ripple across the entire region, bringing with it transformation, growth, stability, and resilience.
In the same way that investing in one person's potential can transform the lives of so many.
In the same way the granddaughter of a textile trader can stand before you as an Australian Government Cabinet Minister.
So too can investing in our relationship with Vietnam can transform the future of our two countries and our shared region.
For the betterment and benefit of us all.
Thank you and xin cảm ơn.