Wellington (VNA) – New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh have issueda joint press release onthe occasion of the latter’s official visit to New Zealand.

The followingis the full text of the joint press release:

New Zealand’s Prime Minister,Rt Hon Christopher Luxon welcomed Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh toNew Zealand for his first official visit and constructive bilateral talkson March 11.

The Prime Ministers reaffirmed the deepand enduring friendship and Strategic Partnership shared by Vietnam andNew Zealand, underpinned by strong people-to-people links and closecooperation in areas of diplomacy, economics, trade and investment, education,labour, science and technology.

“We have built great momentumin our bilateral relationship since the upgrade of our relationship to aStrategic Partnership in 2020. Vietnam is one ofNew Zealand’s key relationships in South East Asia, one of the fastestgrowing economies in the world, and our 14th largest tradingpartner. We discussed opportunities to significantly boost annual two-way tradeto a new goal of 3 billion USD in 2026 by enhancing our tourism and educationflows, as well as removing non-tariff barriers, accelerating trade promotionactivities, fully committing to existing FTAs and studying measures to promotegreater investment in both directions,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.

Prime Minister Luxon alsoannounced a new 6.24-million NZD investment in Vietnam’s horticulture sector,the ‘Vietnam Climate-Smart Fruit Value Chain (VietFruit)’ project, deliveredthrough a partnership with the New Zealand Institute for Plant and FoodResearch to support climate and economic resilience in Vietnam’s passionfruitindustry, building on the highly successful New Zealand-funded dragonfruit project that preceded it.

The Prime Ministerswelcomed plans to progress cooperation in the education sector through the newEducation Engagement Arrangement focusing on institution-to-institutionpartnerships in the tertiary sector, innovative education models via digitalcapability tools, and alumni engagement.

“The New Zealandgovernment is committed to boosting international education and diversifyingour international education markets. Prime Minister Chinhand I discussed opportunities for more Vietnamese students to study at ourworld-class universities,” says Prime Minister Luxon.

Prime Minister Chinh’s visit will alsosee New Zealand and Vietnam advancing cooperation across a range of fronts– with new Arrangements also signed on economic and trade cooperation, andfinance. High-level defence and police dialogues are also being progressed.

Plans were also announced for abilateral Oceans Dialogue in 2024 on international law, maritime governance,and marine conservation. The Prime Ministers reiterated the two countries’determination to respect international law, including the United NationsCharter and UNCLOS, and their commitment to working together and with otherinternational partners to contribute to regional peace, stability, andprosperity globally and in the Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea(called the East Sea in Vietnamese).

ThePrime Ministers looked forward to the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomaticrelations next year as an excellent opportunity to expand the relationship intonew areas of mutual interest such as the green economy, climate change digitaltransformation and agri-tech cooperation.

“Vietnam and New Zealand have madeexcellent progress together on our Action Plan for the period 2021-2024,resulting in significant outcomes in economic and trade initiatives, defence,security, education and labour. Prime Minister Luxon and I have agreed to acceleratethe exchange of high-level visits and contacts, and to actively implementcooperation mechanisms as we look forward to elevating our bilateral relationsto a higher level in the near future. I am pleased Prime Minister Luxon has acceptedmy invitation to undertake an official visit to Vietnam at a mutuallyconvenient time,” says Prime Minister Chinh./.