Standards Australia’s General Manager, Engagement and Communications – Adam Stingemore visited Hanoi this week to meet with Dr Ha Minh Hiep, Acting Director General of The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality (STAMEQ) - they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), intended to facilitate collaboration in international standards development.  

Australia and Vietnam share an ambition to further strengthen their economic ties through increased bilateral trade and investment, with a commitment to sustainable and inclusive economic growth as set out by the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy.

The MoU is intended to provide a basis for cooperation between Standards Australia and STAMEQ, recognising the benefits and advantages of collaboration in standardisation to eliminate technical barriers to trade and promote international competitiveness to meet the needs of industry and consumers.

This announcement reflects the growing importance of economic partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region and is a positive step toward fostering opportunity between the organisations, with Standards Australia collaborating with Vietnam on participation in international standards adoption and development, focusing on digital transformation.  

This includes projects underway, such as our Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) in South-East Asia project that Standards Australia was delivering in Hanoi this week, but also potential for future work to further cooperation on standards harmonisation and enhanced trade between Australia and Vietnam.  

The agreement also supports implementation of regional trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA).  

Read more about the CET program here