Ambassador Ta Van Thong (L) poses for a photo with the Governor General of New Zealand, Dame Patsy Reddy (Photo: VNA) Sydney (VNA) – The Governor General of New Zealand,Dame Patsy Reddy, has stressed the important role played by Vietnam inmultilateral institutions when talking to the new Vietnamese Ambassador to NewZealand.
At a ceremony on June 12 to receive the credentials fromAmbassador Ta Van Thong, the Governor General welcomed the strong developmentof bilateral ties throughout the past 43 years since the two countries set updiplomatic ties.
She recalled the successful visit to New Zealand by VietnamesePrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last March, and affirmed her support forlifting the two countries’ relationship to a strategic partnership in the timeahead, as well as of raising bilateral trade value to 1.7 billion USD nextyear.
She said Vietnam is playing an important role in the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum,and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as in such freetrade agreements as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA and the Comprehensiveand Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Ambassador Thong said he was honoured when being appointedto the position and pledged to do his best to bolster the friendly andcooperative ties between Vietnam and New Zealand.-VNA
