Auckland (VNA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters co-chaired the fourth Vietnam–New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM-4) in Auckland on August 13.
The ministers discussed bilateral ties, highlighting that the Vietnam–New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has a solid foundation of trust and has been continuously strengthened over more than 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
They agreed to effectively implement the outcomes and agreements reached during the Vietnamese leader’s visit, helping deepen bilateral ties and make cooperation more substantive and effective, particularly in areas with strong potential such as trade, investment, high-tech agriculture, health care and education.
The ministers stressed the importance of promoting free trade, market opening and economic connectivity, and agreed to make effective use of the free trade agreements to which both countries are parties, particularly the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with a view to raising two-way trade to 3 billion USD.
Trung welcomed New Zealand’s continued support for Vietnamese students studying in the country, including through the maintenance and expansion of scholarship, training and skills development programmes.
Regarding cooperation between the two foreign ministries, the two FMs hailed the effectiveness of existing exchange mechanisms and agreed to strengthen policy dialogue, experience sharing, diplomatic training and capacity building, while enhancing connections between specialised agencies.
They also held extensive discussions on regional and global developments, particularly complex developments, hotspots, conflicts and strategic issues affecting peace, security and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
The two sides underlined the importance of maintaining an open, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture, promoting dialogue, confidence-building, preventive measures and conflict resolution, thereby contributing to regional peace, stability and development.
They agreed to enhance coordination at multilateral forums and regional mechanisms, particularly the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN-led mechanisms, while promoting ASEAN centrality and its important role in addressing regional challenges.
On the occasion, New Zealand reaffirmed its support for Vietnam’s role as CPTPP Chair in 2026 and host of APEC 2027, and expressed its readiness to coordinate with and support Vietnam in successfully fulfilling these responsibilities./.
