New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters hails Vietnam's role in the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Chile on March 8. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Auckland (VNA) – As the host of the APEC Year 2017, Vietnam played an important role in promoting the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Chile on March 8, said New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters.
During his meeting with Vietnamese Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh on March 13 as part of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to New Zealand, Peters spoke highly of Vietnam’s leading role in the APEC Economic Leaders Week, saying that it brought positive results to the APEC progress as the region and the world are witnessing unfavourable conditions for trade liberalisation and economic connectivity.
He highlighted the significance of PM Phuc’s ongoing visit to New Zealand and expressed his hope that the visit will help expand and elevate bilateral ties to a new height.
For his part, Minh said Vietnam stands ready to share experience and support New Zealand when the country hosts the APEC Year 2021.
The two officials agreed to promote the implementation of the Action Plan for the 2017-2020 period, thus making contributions to deepening the bilateral cooperation in various fields and creating a premise to upgrade Vietnam-New Zealand ties to the level of strategic partnership.
They expressed their pleasure at the close cooperation between the two foreign ministries and affirmed to boost collaboration in strategic issues, both bilaterally and multilaterally. In that spirit, they agreed to hold the 11th foreign ministerial-level political consultation in New Zealand soon.
While discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, Peters said that he was interested in recent developments on the Korean peninsula and the East Sea, and affirmed his support for ASEAN and China in promoting negotiations on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.
On this occasion, Deputy PM and FM Pham Binh Minh invited his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters to visit Vietnam at a convenient time.-VNA
VNA
