HCMC – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, have agreed to reinforce and expand bilateral relations between the two nations.
After the welcoming ceremony in the capital city of Wellington, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today, March 11.
The two sides discussed ways to bolster the Vietnam-New Zealand strategic partnership.
This can be summarized through three sets of keywords: stability and consolidation, reinforcement and expansion, acceleration and breakthrough, PM Chinh said at a press conference following the talks.
The countries will consolidate the political-diplomatic cooperation, enhance and expand cooperation in all the important pillars of their strategic partnership, including economy, trade, investment, security, defense, agriculture, and people-to-people exchange.
Chinh expressed hopes that New Zealand will offer more scholarships for Vietnamese students, and universities of both countries will strengthen their collaboration to meet the high-quality human resource development needs.
The two nations will accelerate cooperation in science and technology, innovation, green economy development, digital economy, technology transfer, emission reduction, agricultural development, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor chips.
Vietnam and New Zealand look to achieve two-way trade of US$2 billion in 2024 and US$3 billion in 2026, and double bilateral investment in the near future. Meanwhile, Vietnam welcomes investment from New Zealand in various sectors, especially education and training, high-quality agriculture, and renewable energy.
According to PM Luxon, Vietnam is one of New Zealand’s important partners, and both countries have great potential for stronger cooperation. “We are together striving for a net zero goal, so New Zealand will invest in Vietnam in areas such as agricultural development, environmental protection, contributing to the realization of this goal.”
The two countries also signed three important cooperation deals in education and training, trade, and finance, under the witness of the two heads of government.
PM Chinh is in New Zealand for an official visit from March 10 to 11.
Vietnam and New Zealand established diplomatic relations in 1975, and upgraded them to a comprehensive partnership in 2009, and a strategic partnership in 2020.
