Hanoi (VNA)🅘 – New Zealand Acting Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Hinton has highlightedthe significance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse’s upcoming visitto New Zealand following his attendance at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit inMelbourne and his official visit to Australia.

In an interview recently granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency, Ambassador Hinton said New Zealand has quite a new Government whichwas elected last October, and this is very significant for PM Christopher Luxon'sGovernment because it is the first visit to New Zealand by a head of Governmentsince that election.

PM Chinh willtherefore be meeting for the first time with not only PM Luxon, but also withthe Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament, the Governor-General and other high-ranking officials, which will underline the significance of the Vietnam - New Zealandrelationship.

Looking back on2021, Hinton said New Zealand and Vietnam concluded a strategic partnership actionplan, and the visit will be an opportunity to reflect on how that plan has developedand what the outcomes have been, and focus on not only the achievements but also areas of future focus. As 2024 is the last year of that plan, both sides willconsider at the highest level whether they will be taking that into the future.

They will bediscussing how they might do to celebrate the 50th anniversary ofbilateral diplomatic ties in 2025, the diplomat said, adding that overall, there will bea good opportunity for leaders of both sides to talk about connections in allareas to build strong rapport.

ꦗ Some areas thatthe two countries been working together already include agriculturalcooperation and business development, and there are also other possibilities forcooperation in climate change, green economy, digital transformation, andagricultural technology.

Thereis a big business delegation accompanying PM Chinh and that offers an excellentchance to develop new business partnerships and promote the goal of achievingtwo-way trade at a certain level, probably about 2 billion USD by the end ofthis year, she said. Inher view, the visit will establish connections and enable discussions onexisting cooperation in the areas of trade, finance, investment, agriculture,education, national defence and security, and notably a new strategicpartnership action plan.

Hopefully, three agreements in education, trade, and economic cooperationwill be signed at the end of the visit. The two PMs will also make twoimportant announcements on other bilateral cooperation areas, Hinton said.

Highlightingmilestones in bilateral ties since the establishment of their diplomatic tiesin June 1975, she said two-way trade hit 1.67 billion USD as of December 2023, whichis not too far off from the goal of 2 billion USD later this year.

As agricultureis a key element of bilateral trading relationship, the current commonpriorities are greenhouse gas emissions reduction, food safety, plant andanimal health, and rural development.

Hinton alsospotlighted the progress of bilateral ties across education, nationaldefence-security, clean energy, climate resilience in agriculture, horticultureand aquaculture, and disaster and risk management in dam safety, especially in theMekong region.

🅘 Asked about Vietnam’s role and position on the global arena, the diplomat said New Zealand seesVietnam as an important factor in the region and the world, adding that the country has really constructively engaged in global and regional frameworks, such asthe UN peacekeeping mission and accession to the United Nations Human RightsCouncil in 2022.

Vietnamwas visited by a series of top leaders in 2023, which showes that Vietnam is astable and outward looking partner, she added. The diplomat stressed that New Zealand and Vietnam have a very strong record of cooperationin regional organisations and institutions such as APEC and an ASEAN-centredregional architecture as well as economic integration initiatives, and bothcountries share commitment to multilateralism and international law. NewZealand and Vietnam are both members of several regional trading agreementssuch as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-Australia-NewZealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), andthe  Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),she said, adding that New Zealand welcomes Vietnam's partnership in thatcontext. As Vietnam coordinates the ASEAN-New Zealand dialoguerelationship from 2024-2027, she said this really provides an excellentopportunity for further bilateral cooperation on regional issues and consolidatebilateral partnership in the region./.