Australia-Vietnam business partnership marks 35 years of telecommunication success

35th anniversary of Australia-Vietnam business partnership to transform Vietnam’s telecommunications connectivity

On November 20, Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Andrew Goledzinowski and Vietnam's Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh recreated the inaugural telephone call from Vietnam to Australia on the occasion of the 35^th Anniversary of Australia-Vietnam business partnership to transform Vietnam’s telecommunications connectivity.

Vietnam’s telecommunications links to the world started with cooperation between Australia’s Overseas Telecommunication Commission (OTC) and Vietnam’s General Department of Posts and Telecommunications (later VNPT).

Recreating the inaugural telephone call from Vietnam to Australia, Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Andrew Goledzinowski, welcomed the cooperation.

“This partnership was truly transformational in connecting Vietnam internationally and contributed to today’s strong bilateral relations. This partnership greatly supported Vietnam to realise the benefits of its doi moi reforms and helped create an enabling environment for business and investment in Vietnam,” Ambassador Goledzinowski said. “As we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Vietnam this year, we are focusing on the next stage of cooperation to realise the opportunities of the digital revolution. I congratulate all those who contributed to laying such a good foundation for this cooperation and thank you for your contribution to the friendship between our countries.”

35th anniversary of Australia-Vietnam business partnership to transform Vietnam’s telecommunications connectivity

OTC installed Vietnam’s first Vista satellite earth station in Ho Chi Minh City in 1987, which was routed to Australia. This provided for up to five international calls to be made simultaneously, an improvement in quality and capacity compared with existing radio links.

Additional and larger satellite earth stations were built first in Hanoi and then across the country.

In early 1989, visiting Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Gareth Evans made the first call over a new satellite link from Hanoi to his colleague Acting Minister for Telecommunications, Bob Brown, in Australia. This was followed by the installation by OTC of new larger satellite receiving stations in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, which greatly increased capacity and service offerings on the INTELSAT network.

Throughout the 1990s, as technology changed other important milestones were reached. The first internet modem was brought to Vietnam by Australian National University Professor Rob Hurle in 1991.

Australia was involved with Vietnam’s first submarine cable, which landed in Vung Tau in 1999. The cable allowed for 15,000 international calls to be made simultaneously, as well as international high-speed data and video services. A second submarine cable followed in 2000, landing in Danang, and remains operational today.

Beyond infrastructure, the partnership included a focus on human capacity development. OTC/Telstra supported training for over 3,000 technicians, engineers, finance, and marketing telecommunications executives in Vietnam.

Australia helps Vietnam upskill logistics workforce An international forum on vocational education and training (VET) themed “Upskilling the Logistics Workforce and Promoting Industry Linkages in the Digital Era” took place in Hanoi on October 24 as part of activities in the Vietnam - Australia Human Resource Development Programme (Aus4Skills).

Australian specialty coffee chain Ten Thousand debuts in Vietnam Ten Thousand, an Australian specialty coffee chain, announced its first Southeast Asian venture in late September with the opening of a store in Vietnam.

Australia supports Vietnam in developing its potential The logistics industry will receive an extra push in Vietnam thanks to a fruitful cooperative relationship with Australia.

Support necessary to boost green human resources A vibrant and dynamic vocational education and training system is crucial to Vietnam meeting its socioeconomic development goals. Jen Bahen, education and research counsellor at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, told VIR’s Hoang Oanh about Australia’s support in vocational training and human resource building.