Vietnam and New Zealand have agreed on a range of concrete measures tofurther develop their bilateral comprehensive partnership in the timeahead.
It was set at the talks between President Truong Tan Sangand visiting Governor General of New Zealand Jerry Mateparae in Hanoion August 5.
They agreed to maintain the exchanges of all-leveldelegations and people-to-people exchange, actively realise cooperationdeals reached in the past, sign the 2013-2016 Action Programme whilekeeping bilateral cooperation mechanisms like political consultations,national defence dialogue, and the joint committee on economic and tradecooperation.
They also consented to cementing links between thetwo legislative bodies via the Vietnam-New Zealand ParliamentaryFriendship Group and co-hosting practical activities celebrating the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2015.
In nationaldefence and security, the two countries will actively materialisecooperation agreements on training, information and experience sharing,anti-terrorism and United Nations peacekeeping activities. At the sametime, a number of relevant bilateral agreements will also be inked.
On the economic, trade and investment front, the two nations will aimto lift bilateral trade to 1 billion USD by late 2015 by facilitatinginvestment. They will also sign an agreement on double taxationavoidance and conclude negotiations on mutually recognising food qualityand safety, agro-forestry-fisheries.
Referring to developmentassistance, the Governor General committed to the continue the provisionof financial assistance for Vietnam’s priority fields that are also NewZealand’s strengths, like education-training, agriculture, disasterrisk management and human resources development.
Discussingregional and global issues, the two leaders said they are satisfied withthe two countries’ close bilateral cooperation at regional andinternational forums such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)and the United Nations, as well as the current Trans-PacificPartnership negotiations.
Regarding the East Sea issue, bothhost and guest reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability, maritimesafety, security and freedom in the East Sea.
They shared theview that disputes should be settled by peaceful means in line withinternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea, and with the full implementation of the Declaration onthe Conduct of Parties in the East Sea toward the early achievement of aCode of Conduct in the East Sea.
Mateparae invited PresidentSang and his wife to pay a State-level visit to New Zealand at hisconvenience. President Sang accepted the invitation with pleasure,saying that the visit will be arranged via diplomatic channels.
After the talks, President Sang and Governor General Mateparae witnessedthe signing of the 2013-2016 Vietnam-New Zealand Action Programme andthe double taxation avoidance agreement. They also met with the press toinform them about the outcomes of the visit.
Since the twonations lifted their ties to a comprehensive partnership level in 2009,their trade and investment have grown steadily over the years. Lastyear, two-way trade hit 600 million USD.
New Zealand isinvesting in 20 projects worth over 77.8 million USD in Vietnam . Itsofficial development assistance to Vietnam averages nearly 10 millionNZD each year. Over 2,000 Vietnamese students are pursuing their studyin New Zealand universities and colleges.-VNA