Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with his New Zealand counterpart John Key on the margins of the 21st ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 20.

The two PMs said they are delighted with the developing Vietnam-New Zealand Comprehensive Partnership, especially in the fields of economics, trade, investment, education and training, and tourism.

The two sides highly valued the expanse of cooperation in labour and defence-security, which contributes to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region. They agreed to conduct the fourth meeting of the Vietnam-New Zealand Joint Committee on economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

Dung spoke positively of New Zealand’s cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its contributions to regional and international forums.

Key stated that New Zealand will continue official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam. He spoke of a future visit by the country’s Governor-General, Jerimiah Mateparae, to Vietnam, and invited Vietnamese leaders to New Zealand.

The New Zealand leader expressed his gratitude for Vietnam’s support of his country’s aspirations to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in the 2015-16 tenure, announcing that the country will continue working with Vietnam in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations process.-VNA