Vietnam is working to strengthen relations with New Zealand, a crucial strategic partner

This was assessed in recent statements to the national media by the Vietnamese Ambassador to that nation, Nguyen Van Truong, who stated that the Prime Minister's stay in Canberra would also allow other potential areas of cooperation to be discovered and to begin exploiting them.

Minh Chinh's trip, which came in response to an invitation from his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon, is also a step in implementing the foreign policy set at the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party (CPV), which attaches importance to developing cooperation. He said with the Asia-Pacific countries.

The visit will also make it possible to identify measures aimed at further consolidating political trust and enhancing multifaceted bilateral cooperation, especially trade exchange, which in 2023 reached only $1.3 billion, which means a decrease of 5.6 percent year on year.

According to the diplomat, after the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the existing strategic partnership between the two countries has recorded very positive progress in areas such as politics, diplomacy, education, science and technology, security, defense and people-to-people exchange. .

In addition to holding formal talks with Luxon, the Vietnamese Prime Minister will witness the signing of cooperation documents, meet with the Governor-General and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and deliver a speech at Victoria University. He said.

Minh Chinh and his high-level delegation arrived the previous day in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city and home to a large Vietnamese community.

There he actually visited the New Zealand Plant and Food Research Institute, where – according to reports by the VNA news agency – he stated that despite the geographical distance between the two countries, the feelings were close “heart to heart.” Efficiency and specific benefits for both people.

He also commented that during this two-day visit, measures to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in sectors such as trade and investment, especially cooperation in labor, education, training and agriculture, will be discussed, so that this is increasingly in-depth. Objective and effective.

Minh Chinh also spoke with Vietnamese scientists working in New Zealand, who presented him with potential and specific projects and programs they are developing to support Vietnam in areas such as science, technology, healthcare, energy, trade, planning and the environment.

memory/mpm