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Vietnamese, NZ PMs hold talks in Auckland

VGP – PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, in Auckland on March 13, during which both sides expressed their satisfaction at the fine development of the Viet Nam-New Zealand friendship and comprehensive partnership, especially in politics-diplomacy, trade-economy-development assistance, education-training, and people-to-people exchange.

March 13, 2018 4:57 PM GMT+7

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc extends his congratulations over New Zealand’s significant achievements over the past few years, stating his belief that the country would continue to thrive with an increasingly important position in the regional and international arena. Photo: VGP

PM Ardern voiced her pleasure to meet PM Phuc again after the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting 2017 in Da Nang city. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese leader extended his congratulations over New Zealand’s significant achievements over the past few years, stating his belief that the country would continue to thrive with an increasingly important position in the regional and international arenas.

The two sides agreed to maintain the exchange of high-level and all-level delegations, whilst strengthening people-to-people exchange. PM Phuc invited PM Ardern to make an official visit to Viet Nam at an appropriate time, and conveyed President Tran Dai Quang’s invitation to the host to pay a State visit to Viet Nam in the future. Both sides also agreed to facilitate the active and effective implementation of the 2017-2020 Viet Nam-New Zealand Action Program, whilst promptly organizing the 6th meeting of the Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Co-operation in Ha Noi, and the 11thpolitical consultation in New Zealand.

PM Phuc asks New Zealand to continue to create favorable conditions for Viet Nam’s tropical fruits, such as mango, dragon fruit, rambutan, grapefruit and longan, to penetrate into the New Zealand market. Photo: VGP

In terms of defence-security, PM Ardern proposed that the two sides actively implement specific cooperation measures within the framework of the recently signed 2018-2021 Action Program on defence cooperation, whilst strengthening cooperation in the fight against cross-border crimes, terrorism and drug trafficking.

Concerning economy-trade, both sides agreed to accelerate trade promotion measures, towards realizing the target of US$1.7-2 billion in two-way trade by 2020. PM Phuc asked New Zealand to continue to create favorable conditions for Viet Nam’s tropical fruits, such as mango, dragon fruit, rambutan, grapefruit and longan, to penetrate into the New Zealand market, while further investing in the spheres of New Zealand’s strength and Viet Nam’s demand, such as mining, energy, infrastructure, high-tech agriculture, education, and finance.

The Vietnamese leader urged New Zealand to consider raising the level of development assistance for Viet Nam, with a focus on the fields of agriculture and rural areas, human resources development, disaster risk management, and climate change.

Both sides reached consensus on accelerating cooperation in other potential areas, such as education and labor. They agreed on the goal of increasing the number of Vietnamese students in New Zealand by 30% in 2020, via promoting the exchange of students and common programs between universities of the two countries. The New Zealand PM pledged to continue supporting Viet Nam in training human resources in various forms, while encouraging the launch of a direct air route between the two nations, thus creating favorable conditions for trade and tourism cooperation.

The two PMs affirmed their continued coordination and support for each other at regional and international forums, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), East Asia Summit (EAS), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). PM Phuc thanked New Zealand for supporting Viet Nam’s successful organization of the APEC Year 2017.

PM Ardern reiterated her commitment to backing Viet Nam’s bid for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure, whilst vowing to support and work closely with Viet Nam in 2020, as the country takes over as the rotating Chair of ASEAN, and as New Zealand and ASEAN celebrate 45 years of their dialogue partnership and five years of their strategic partnership.  The New Zealand leader asked Viet Nam to share its experience when New Zealand hosts the APEC Year 2021. 

New Zealand's PM Ardern reiterates her commitment to backing Viet Nam’s bid for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure. Photo: VGP

The two sides pledged their coordination in implementing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as their support for the negotiations of a progressive, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). 

Concluding their talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of three important documents, including the agreement between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on economic and trade cooperation, an agreement between the MOIT and New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries on cooperation in food safety and quality management, and a strategic cooperation plan between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and Education New Zealand on education-training cooperation between 2018-2020.   

On the occasion, PM Ardern hosted a banquet in honour of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and members of the high-level Vietnamese delegation.

                                                                                                                        By Vien Nhu