Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – After his trip to Australia for the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit and an official visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is paying an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his NZ counterpart Christopher Luxon.
This is the first visit to New Zealand by Chinh in his capacity as the government leader of Vietnam.
The visit is expected to contribute to consolidating political trust, and deepening all-round cooperation between the two countries, making their relationship more substantive and effective.
Bilateral relationship growing substantively
The Vietnam-New Zealand relationship is time-tested. Despite the geographical distance, the two countries set up their diplomatic ties at an early date, on June 19, 1975.
Then PM Vo Van Kiet and his New Zealand counterpart J.B. Bongo sign the Vietnam-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation agreement in 1993. (Photo: VNA) Over the past nearly five decades, the two sides have maintained high-level contacts and delegation exchanges, marking significant developments in the relationship.
In May 2005, the PMs of the two countries inked a joint statement on Vietnam-New Zealand cooperation, and affirmed their determination to enhance collaboration in order to establish a comprehensive, long-term, and stable partnership between the two countries.
The bilateral relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Partnership during the visit to New Zealand by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh in September 2009.
The establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership has created new momentum for the cooperation in all areas, both bilateral and multilateral, for the sake of the people of both nations, and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world at large.
Subsequently, in March 2018, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc's official visit to New Zealand opened up a new chapter in the relationship, creating an impulse for the Comprehensive Partnership across all spheres.
In 2019, the two countries’ leaders agreed to quickly complete exchanges and consultations to upgrade the relationship to a Strategic Partnership in the near future.
On that basis, the two countries established a Strategic Partnership in July 2020, taking the relationship to a substantive phase, and paving the way for broadening cooperation areas.
The two countries have maintained high-level contacts and exchanges, with the most noteworthy being PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc's online talks with PM Jacinda Ardern in July 2020; National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan's phone talks with Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Travor Mallard in July 2020; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh's online talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta in March 2021; Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son’s meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta on the sidelines of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in August 2022, and his official visit to New Zealand, and co-chairing the first Vietnam-New Zealand Foreign Ministers' Meeting in September 2022; PM Jacinda Ardern's official visit to Vietnam in November 2022; NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue's official visit to New Zealand in December 2022; President Vo Van Thuong’s meetings with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro and PM Chris Hipkins on the occasion of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III of the UK in May 2023; and PM Pham Minh Chinh's bilateral meeting with PM Chris Hipkins on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Tianjin, China in June 2023.
NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (right) meets with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro in New Zealand in December 2022. (Photo: VNA) The two countries have also maintained bilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the Foreign Ministers' Meeting (the first meeting in September 2022), the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (the 8th meeting in May 2023), and the High-Level Agriculture Dialogue (the second meeting in April 2022).
Both sides are making efforts to effectively implement the Vietnam-New Zealand Action Programme for the 2021-2024 period signed online by the two foreign ministries in December 2021.
Logistics support ship HMNZS Aotearoa, the largest ship of the Royal New Zealand Navy, docks at Ho Chi Minh City International Port in September 2023. (Photo: VNA) Multilaterally, Vietnam and New Zealand have maintained their close ties and mutual support at important international and regional organisations of which both are members like the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and ASEAN cooperation mechanisms.
The two countries have also collaborated in regional and international issues of shared concern, including those relating to the East Sea, and stepped up cooperation through free trade agreements to which both are signatories, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Fruitful, mutually beneficial economic, trade cooperation
Economic, trade, and investment cooperation that targets efficiency and mutual benefits is considered the focus and driving force of the bilateral relations.
Vietnam is now New Zealand's 14th largest trade partner. The Southeast Asian nation is New Zealand’s 13th largest supplier and the 17th biggest buyer. Bilateral trade has steadily increased over the years, rising to 750 million USD in 2013 from only 300 million USD in 2009 (with an average annual growth rate of approximately 20%).
In 2021, amid the severe global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two-way trade remained robust, reaching 1.4 billion USD in 2022, 1.3 billion USD in 2023, and 113 million USD in the first month of 2024.
Vietnam exports to New Zealand mainly phones and components, computers, electronics and components, aquatic products, cashew nuts, and footwear.
In return, it imports milk and dairy products, fruits, wood, textile and garment materials, leather and footwear, machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, and iron and steel scrap, among others, from New Zealand.
As of November 2023, New Zealand had run 52 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of 208.35 million USD, ranking 39th out of the 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
Most of New Zealand investment went into real estate, education-training, processing-manufacturing, agro-forestry-fishery, administrative and support services, and construction.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has injected 37.8 million USD into 10 projects in New Zealand.
As for development cooperation, New Zealand’s official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam grew from 3.2 million NZD (about 2.3 million USD) for the 2003-2004 fiscal year to 10.5 million NZD for 2012-2013, and 26.66 million NZD for 2015-2018.
New Zealand has committed 26.7 million NZD in non-refundable ODA for Vietnam between July 1, 2021 and July 30, 2024, focusing on agriculture, climate change adaptation, education, and pandemic response.
Educational cooperation is a bright spot in the relationship. There are approximately 3,000 Vietnamese students studying in New Zealand.
The two countries have also prioritised strengthening collaboration in people-to-people exchange, labour, agriculture, national defence and security, and culture, while expanding cooperation in some new fields like climate change response, digital transformation and energy transition.
Towards 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties
It can be said that the above-said achievements serve as a firm foundation for Vietnam and New Zealand to enhance their cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, towards the celebration of the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties (June 1975 - 2025) and the fifth anniversary of their Strategic Partnership (July 2020 - 2025).
According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, during PM Chinh's upcoming visit, the two countries will discuss measures to strengthen the bilateral cooperation, covering the traditional areas of trade and investment.
The two sides will also seek measures to expand export-import markets for their high-quality agricultural products, he added.
New Zealand Acting Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Hinton said the visit will provide an opportunity for the two countries to intensify cooperation in the areas of trade, finance, investment, agriculture, education, national defence and security, and notably a new strategic partnership action plan.
Hopefully, three agreements in education, trade, and economic cooperation will be signed at the end of the visit. The two PMs will also make two important announcements on other bilateral cooperation areas, Hinton said.
Asked about Vietnam’s role and position on the global arena, the diplomat said New Zealand sees Vietnam as an important factor in the region and the world, adding that the country has really constructively engaged in global and regional frameworks, such as the UN peacekeeping mission and accession to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022.
The visits to Vietnam by a series of top leaders in 2023 show that Vietnam is a stable and outward looking partner, she added.
According to the diplomat, Vietnam is the coordinator for the ASEAN-New Zealand dialogue relationship from 2024-2027, which brings an excellent opportunity for the two countries to further bilateral cooperation on regional issues./.
