NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue meets with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Wellington on December 6 (Photo: VNA) The visits from November 30 to December 6 were made at the invitation of Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Milton Dick, President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines, and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Adrian Rurawhe.
The official visits were the first to Australia and New Zealand by a senior leader of Vietnam since the three countries completely reopened their borders after the COVID-19 pandemic. They were also the first official trips to the two countries by Hue as Chairman of the Vietnamese NA.
During the tour, Hue held talks with the top leaders of the legislative bodies in Australia and New Zealand, and had meetings with the two countries’ Prime Ministers, Governors-General, chairpersons of parliamentary committees, and ministers. He also met leaders of several enterprises in Australia and New Zealand, attended educational cooperation and economic forums, visited the Vietnamese embassies, and met representatives of the Vietnamese communities there.
The official visits to Australia and New Zealand had substantive outcomes in all the pillars of Vietnam’s relations with the two countries, including economy, trade, investment, tourism, labour, science - technology, development assistance, education - training, defence, security, peacekeeping, and locality-to-locality ties.
The trips also opened up new cooperation opportunities in fields such as renewable energy, digital transformation, just energy transition, green and sustainable development, climate change response, and startup facilitation. They helped intensify strategic trust to the highest level and created an important stepping stone for elevating Vietnam’s relations with the two countries in the coming time.
Leaders of Australia and New Zealand affirmed their respect for Vietnam’s stature and role, and considered relations with the Southeast Asian nation as stable and active amid complex and unpredictable developments around the world. The two countries expressed their wish to diversify trade relations, with Vietnam being a priority. They also hoped Vietnam will play a greater role and continue coordination in seeking solutions to regional and international issues.
Australia and New Zealand also shared Vietnam’s viewpoints on international and regional issues of common concern, which will create a favourable political environment for strengthening Vietnam’s ties with the two countries./.
VNA
