Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife arrived in Canberra on March 14, 2018 (Photo: Quang Hieu/VGP)

They were welcomed at the airport by Assistant Minister to Prime Minister - Senator James McGrath, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Stephanie Foster, and Australian ambassador to Vietnam Craig Chittick. Present also were Vietnamese ambassador to Australia Ngo Huong Nam, Vietnamese consul general in Sydney Trinh Duc Hai, Vietnamese embassy staff, and overseas Vietnamese representatives in Australia. In the afternoon, PM Phuc visited the Australian National University and met with Vietnamese embassy staff and a group of overseas Vietnamese in Australia.

As scheduled, Australian PM Malcom Turnbull is to host an official welcoming ceremony for PM Phuc and his wife on Thursday, before holding talks and witnessing a signing ceremony of cooperation agreements. PM Phuc is expected to meet Australia's Speaker of the House of Representatives Tony Smith and Senate President Scott Ryan before paying a courtesy visit to Peter Cosgrove, Governor-General of Australia. He is also scheduled to attend the Innovative Trade Show and meet with representatives of the Australia-Vietnam Friendship Society.

After concluding his working agenda in Canberra, PM Phuc and his wife will visit Sydney for a series of meetings under the framework of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit and attend a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on counter-terrorism between ASEAN countries and Australia. Also in the city, PM Phuc is due to meet with the Governor of New South Wales, attend a Vietnam-Australian Business Forum, and receive leaders from Australia’s major businesses.