Vietnam and New Zealand have agree to lift bilateral relations to a new level of “comprehensive partnership.”

Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand reached this unanimity during their talks in Wellington on Sept. 10, right after an official welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese Party chief, following NZ’s highest protocols for heads of state.

Both leaders expressed their pleasure with the development of the two countries’ friendship and multi-faceted cooperation since Vietnam and New Zealand established full diplomatic ties on June 19, 1975.

They agreed the visits and exchanges of high-level delegations between the two countries are an important element for enhancing understanding and tightening friendship between the two nations, and creating favourable conditions for both sides to promote cooperation in many areas.

The two sides acknowledged remarkable progress in bilateral cooperation in politics, economics and trade, investment, development assistance, culture and education and training.

General Secretary Manh applauded the effective cooperation and assistance by the government and people of New Zealand to Vietnam during its national construction and development, particularly in education, training and development aid.

He highly appreciated and thanked New Zealand for its recognition of Vietnam ’s market economy status as well as an agreement to receive skilled workers from Vietnam .

General Secretary Manh and PM Key affirmed the two countries’ determination to develop and deepen friendship and cooperation for the benefit of their people and the prosperity of each country, thus contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world as well.

They also agreed to accelerate meetings and exchanges of delegations between the two states, governments, parliaments and other organisations.

In order to create a strong driving force for bilateral cooperation and mutual support in regional and international integration, the two leaders agreed to push up existing mechanisms of cooperation between the two countries, including the joint committee on economic and trade cooperation, political consultations between the two foreign ministries, bilateral dialogues on national defence, and bilateral dialogues between mass organisations.

The two sides agreed that through economic cooperation, Vietnam and New Zealand can supplement each other’s strength and support each other for further development.

The two leaders reached an agreement to beef up two-way trade in terms of scale and value, and intensify economic cooperation, especially in construction, mining, light industry, processing and financing and services.

They committed to creating more favourable conditions for enterprises and investors of both countries and speeding up the implementation of cooperation projects within the framework of the economic cooperation programme of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (ANNZFTA).

PM John Key reiterated his pledge to continue to implement the development assistance programme in Vietnam in the coming years, further support Vietnam through Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) and maintain education and training cooperation programmes.

The two sides agreed to push for the signing of cooperation agreements in science and technology, customs, and public security and to accelerate discussions on the possible signing of a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

Vietnam and New Zealand ’s leaders also shared their interest in boosting trade liberalisation through a multilateral trade framework, anti-protectionism and the completion of the Doha talks.

The two sides stressed the necessity of increasing Vietnam-New Zealand cooperation in international and regional organisations and forums, such as the United Nations, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia Regional Forum (ARF), especially within the ASEAN-New Zealand framework at a time when Vietnam takes over ASEAN chair in 2010.

PM John Key pledged to facilitate and offer preferential treatment to Vietnam during its negotiation for accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) as an aligned member.

He also reaffirmed New Zealand ’s wish for positive cooperation with Vietnam within the TPP framework.

Meanwhile, Vietnam voiced support to New Zealand ’s participation in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and integration into Asia , especially EAS and ASEAN forums.

The two leaders pledged to further cooperation at international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to strengthen global trade liberalisation and at the UN to promote peace, security and development.

The New Zealand PM spoke highly of Vietnam ’s positive contributions to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in the 2008-2009 term.

Meanwhile, Vietnam positively recognised New Zealand ’s candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UNSC in the 2015-2016 term.

General Secretary Nong Duc Manh invited PM John Key to visit Vietnam at a convenient time. Key happily accepted the invitation.

Vietnam and New Zealand then issued a joint statement on comprehensive partnership cooperation.

The same day, PM John Key offered a banquet in honour of General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and his entourage./.