Prime Minister Tony Abbott MP and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam underscored the strength and breadth of Australia-Vietnam ties and agreed to lift the relationship to a new level. They agreed to deepen and intensify the existing Comprehensive Partnership, reflecting the increasingly strategic nature of the bilateral relationship.

Formal defense relations between Australia and Viet Nam were established in February 1999, with the opening of a Defense Attaché Office at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi. Viet Nam's first Defense Attaché to Australia took up his appointment in Canberra in September 2000.

 The Australian Minister for Trade, Warren Truss and the Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment, HE Vo Hong Phuc, co-chaired the 7th Australia-Vietnam Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee on 16-17 July in Canberra.  The Ministers issued a Joint Communiqué.

In 2005-2006, two-way goods trade between Australia and Vietnam totaled $5.08 billion. Two-way services trade added an additional $669 million

Services exports to Vietnam in 2005 were worth A$225 million. Education and training remains Australia's single largest services export, worth A$137 million per annum. Services imports from Vietnam in 2005 were valued at A$390 million, dominated by tourism-related spending (A$276m).

Of all the English-speaking countries in the world, Australia welcomes the largest number of students from Vietnam. There are currently some 7,200 students from Vietnam studying in Australia, and an estimated of 8000 more studying Australian education and training courses in Vietnam.

Vietnam's rapid economic growth over recent years has led to large demand for imported goods, creating significant opportunities for Australian exporters of metals, wheat, dairy produce, machinery, petroleum-based products and live animals