Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to New Zealand fromMarch 12-14 is a reiteration of Vietnam’s policy of attaching importance to itsdiplomatic ties with the country, looking towards a strategic partnership andenhanced cooperation in major spheres.

Vietnamand New Zealand officially set up diplomatic ties on June 19, 1975.

Theyestablished comprehensive partnership in September 2009, which created a newmomentum for the bilateral cooperation in all fields, both bilaterally andmultilaterally, for the sake of the two countries’ people, as well as forpeace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world atlarge.

Therelationship has developed strongly in recent years, as reflected throughhigh-level visits and meetings, along with the exchange of delegations andcitizens of the two countries. 

NewZealand always treasures ties with Vietnam and considers the country animportant factor in its policy towards Asia-Pacific.

Duringthe APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Vietnam’s central Da Nang city in November2017, the two countries signed an action programme for 2017-2020, aiming todeepen the bilateral relations more firmly and stably in the time ahead.

Theprogramme has charted orientations for the relationship in the next four years,focusing on collaboration in politics, national defence and security, economyand trade, and development support and people-to-people exchange.

Tradebetween Vietnam and New Zealand has expanded by about 20 percent annually, from707 million USD in 2016 to 907.5 million USD last year. The figure is expectedto reach 1.7 billion USD in 2020, making economic cooperation a pillar of thebilateral ties.

Currently,Vietnam is New Zealand’s 16th largest import market and thecountry’s19th biggest export market.

Inthe field of agriculture, Vietnam ships fruits, cashew nuts, coffee, pepper andseafood to New Zealand. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s agricultural exports toVietnam make up more than 60 percent of the country’s total export revenue tothe Southeast Asian nation, mainly dairy products, garment-textile materials,fruits, wood materials and minerals.

Thanksto close and effective collaboration between Vietnamese and New Zealandagricultural agencies in terms of quarantine, other agricultural products ofVietnam have been sold in NZ, such as tra fish, Hoa Loc mango and dragon fruit.

Inthe realm of investment, as of the end of December 2017, New Zealand had run 29valid projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of some 102.4 millionUSD, ranking 45th among 125 countries and territories investing inthe country.

NewZealand has increased its investments in such sectors as agriculture, renewableenergy and infrastructure in Vietnam, while helping the country improvecapacity and technology for the production, manufacturing and preservation offarm produce in order to meet high standards of the international market.

NewZealand always offers stable and annually increasing official developmentassistance (ODA) to Vietnam, focusing on social welfare, agriculture and ruraldevelopment, human resources development, and natural disaster and climatechange management and combat.

Thecountry has committed 26.66 million NZD (18.6 million USD) to Vietnam betweenJuly 2015 and June 2018.

Theaffiliation in culture-education has also created a firm foundation for therelationship, with about 2,500 Vietnamese students studying in New Zealand.

Atregional and international forums, Vietnam and New Zealand have maintainedtheir close coordination and mutual support, particularly within ASEANmechanisms, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) and the UN.

Vietnamhighly values New Zealand’s stance on the East Sea issue in the spirit ofrespect for international law and wishes that the country will continue tosupport the stance and viewpoints of Vietnam as well as ASEAN on this issue.

NewZealand Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews said the connectivity betweenVietnamese and New Zealanders is developing and the year 2018 is expected towitness more hallmarks in the bilateral ties.

Thediplomat held that the two countries still have a lot of potential forcooperation in trade, economy, education and tourism.-VNA