Overview of the talks between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern (Photo: VNA) Auckland(VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his New Zealand counterpart,Jacinda Ardern, agreed on major directions to boost the future Vietnam-NewZealand cooperation in all fields during their talks in Auckland, New Zealand,on March 13.
In politics, the twosides concurred to maintain the exchanges of delegations, especially high-levelones, while strengthening people-to-people exchanges.
In the spirit, PMNguyen Xuan Phuc invited Prime Minister Ardern to visit Vietnam in anappropriate time, and conveyed President Tran Dai Quang’s invitation to Governor-Generalof New Zealand to pay a State visit to Vietnam.
The two sides alsoagreed to implement the Action Programme for the 2017-2020 period in a drasticand effective manner, and soon organise the sixth meeting of the JointCommittee on economic and trade cooperation in Hanoi and the 11th PoliticalConsultation in New Zealand.
The two sides showedtheir delight at the bilateral friendship and comprehensive partnership betweenthe two countries, towards the 10th anniversary of the ComprehensivePartnership in 2019, and the 45th anniversary of the bilateral diplomaticrelations in 2020.
In defence-security,PM Ardern agreed that the two sides should implement specific cooperationwithin the newly-signed Action Programme on defence cooperation in the 2018-2021period. The two sides need to promote affiliation in defence industry andresearch, while strengthening collaboration in fighting trans-nationalcriminals, terrorism and drug trafficking amidst the complicatedly changingsecurity in the region.
In terms of economics and trade, both sides expressedtheir satisfaction with positive bilateral trade growth which hit 1.24 billionUSD last year – a year-on-year rise of over 30 percent. They agreed on numeroustrade promotion activities, including the facilitation of farm produce exports,in order to bring bilateral trade to 1.7 – 2 billion USD by 2020.
PM Phuc asked New Zealand to continuefacilitating the export of Vietnamese tropical fruits such as mango, dragonfruit, rambutan, star apple, grapefruit and longan to its market, and expandinvestment in Vietnam in the fields that it holds strength and Vietnam has demandlike mining, energy, infrastructure, hi-tech agriculture, education andfinance.
Regarding official development assistance(ODA), the Vietnamese leader said he is satisfied with the efficiency of NewZealand’s ODA projects in Vietnam. He called for the increased provision of theassistance with the focus on agriculture and rural development, human resourcesdevelopment, disaster risk management and climate change.
The New Zealand PM took this occasion toannounce two new ODA projects, namely a three-year programme worth 1.5 millionNZD (1.09 million USD) to help Vietnamese farmers increase their income and apilot project on renewable energy worth 500,000 NZD.
The two sides reached a consensus onintensifying collaboration in such potential as education and labour.
They acknowledged that cooperation ineducation and training is growing strongly and is one of the pillars of thebilateral relations.
They set a target to raise the number ofVietnamese students to 30 percent by 2020 through encouraging the exchange ofstudents between the two countries’ universities.
PM Ardern expressed her delight at positivegrowth in bilateral tourism cooperation, which is reflected through the factthat New Zealand welcomed 17,000 Vietnamese tourists last year.
She affirmed to maintain assistance forVietnam in human resources training, while backing the opening of direct airroutes linking the two countries, and committing to facilitating tourism andtrade cooperation.
The two PMs affirmed to push aheadwith cooperation and mutual support at regional and international forums of theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
PM Phuc thanked New Zealand for supportingVietnam to host the APEC 2017 successfully and become a non-permanent member ofthe UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.
The New Zealand PM affirmed to support andclosely work with Vietnam in 2020 when the Southeast Asian country will take upthe role as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and thebloc and New Zealand will mark the 45th anniversary of dialogue partnership andthe fifth anniversary of strategic partnership.
New Zealand will host the APEC Year 2021 andhoped to learn from Vietnam’s experience, she noted.
The two countries agreed to jointly implementthe Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and advocated the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP).
The PMs were unanimous to entrust ministries andrelevant agencies to promote the two countries’ relations in a deep andpragmatic manner across the fields in addition to promoting the exchange of aroadmap for the bilateral strategic partnership and soon elevating thebilateral relations as agreed by the two sides.
At the end of the talks, the PMs witnessed thesigning of three important documents, including an agreement between Vietnam’sMinistry of Industry and Trade and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairsand Trade on economic and trade cooperation; a deal between Vietnam’s Ministryof Industry and Trade and New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries oncooperation in food safety and quality management; a strategic cooperation planbetween Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and New Zealand educationalagency on education and training for 2018-2020.
On the occasion, PM Ardern hosted a banquet forher Vietnamese counterpart and members from the Vietnamese delegation.-VNA
VNA
