Australia Vietnam Business Council (AVBC) and Canberra University recently held a workshop in Sydney where they called on Vietnamese businesses to invest in Australia’s New South Wales.

Addressing the event on Friday, Suzanne Gilham, a senior official from the NSW Department of Industry, introduced the Australian business visa programme for 2017, which offers many incentives for entrepreneurs and investors from China, Malaysia and Viet Nam.

She said the state government regards Viet Nam as a potential and promising market to develop this new model in Australia.

Local authorities are coordinating with Vietnamese agencies and organisations to promote this programme in Ha Noi and HCM City in June this year, she added.

Laurence Strano, president and founder of AVBC, said the programme aims to encourage Vietnamese enterprises to do business in New South Wales.

He cited the increasing two-way trade, which surged from US$45 million in 1990 to $10 billion at present.

Bilateral trade is expected to double in the near future, he said, adding that he hopes more Vietnamese businesses will invest in Australia and vice versa.— VNS