Hanoi (VNA) – Visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon introduced New Zealand’s education system and highlighted the long-standing educational ties between his country and Vietnam while addressing an audience of more than 200 students attending the New Zealand-Vietnam EduConnect education event at the Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi on February 26.
Organised by the New Zealand Embassy in Vietnam in collaboration with Education New Zealand (ENZ), the event leads up to the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and New Zealand.
PM Luxon underscored the remarkable progress Vietnam has made in its educational development, noting that the country has placed education at the forefront of its transformation journey. He emphasised that education has always been a key area of collaboration between the two countries, and continues to play a central role as they are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025.
Introducing New Zealand’s education sector, PM Luxon pointed out that New Zealand is a particularly attractive destination for international students, offering world-class education in high-tech fields, as well as space science.
He said that New Zealand has eight universities ranked among the top 2% of the highest-quality institutions globally. If Vietnamese students are looking for a place to experience high-quality English-language education, New Zealand is undoubtedly a prime choice, he stated.
PM Luzon highlighted the focus of New Zealand’s education system on developing fields such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), economics, medicine, artificial intelligence (AI), and chatbot technologies - areas that are of particular relevance to Vietnam and have the potential to transform both economies.
With around 1,700 Vietnamese students currently studying in New Zealand, PM Luxon expressed his hope that an increasing number of New Zealand students will choose to study in Vietnam. He also anticipated continued growth in the exchange of students between the two nations. These students will serve as “bridges of friendship”, further deepening the ties between the two countries' people, he remarked.
At the event, the New Zealand PM also officially announced new scholarship programmes for Vietnamese students in 2025. He witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements among educational institutions of the two countries, which will help further strengthen the New Zealand-Vietnam Strategic Partnership, especially in the field of education./.
