New impetus for Vietnam-New Zealand relations

Economic cooperation, investment, and trade will continue to be key pillars, fostering breakthroughs in bilateral relations as a driving force for Vietnam and New Zealand to overcome difficulties and challenges in order to thrive.

The Prime Minister at the conference. Source: VNA

“This cooperation aims to contribute to the prosperity and strength of each nation and ensure the well-being and happiness of its citizens,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a Vietnam- New Zealand business conference held today (local time).

According to the Prime Minister, Vietnam, guided by the spirit of "harmonious interests, shared risks," consistently safeguards the legal rights and interests of businesses.

“The commitment is always to listen, accompany, support, and create favorable conditions for foreign enterprises in general, and specifically, for New Zealand businesses to invest in and conduct efficient, long-term, and sustainable business operations in Vietnam,” Chinh said.

During the dialogue session, after an overview of the economic and social development situation, particularly the investment potentials and opportunities in Vietnam, the leaders of New Zealand's agencies and businesses presented their capabilities, needs, desires, and intentions for investment and business cooperation in Vietnam.

They expressed interest in Vietnam's investment attraction policies, especially in infrastructure development. Areas of collaboration highlighted included education, training, and science and technology cooperation; food imports; training and supply of healthcare caregivers for the elderly; climate change cooperation; green transportation, carbon reduction, and energy transition; and sustainable agriculture development.

Overview of the conference.

After addressing and discussing these issues, Prime Minister Chinh clarified points and responded to concerns raised by New Zealand agencies and businesses. He instructed relevant ministries and sectors to continue improving and creating the best conditions for effective investment and collaboration between New Zealand enterprises and Vietnam.

The Prime Minister emphasized that in almost 50 years, the Vietnam-New Zealand relationship has achieved positive development in various fields, but there is still great potential for cooperation. Therefore, during the talks with the New Zealand Prime Minister, both sides discussed and agreed to strengthen cooperation.

The mutual commitment includes strengthening political trust, strategic confidence, and cooperation in politics and diplomacy, and building a more solid foundation for bilateral relations, he noted.

Chinh added that both nations aim to boost and expand collaboration in all major pillars of the Strategic Partnership, including trade, investment, national security, agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges. They also seek to accelerate cooperation in emerging sectors such as science and technology, innovation, green and digital economies, sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, labor, education, and training.

He stated that Vietnam has set the goal of becoming a modern industrialized country with a high average income by 2030 and a developed country with a high income by 2045.

Currently, Vietnam is focusing on three strategic breakthroughs: promoting strategic infrastructure development, high-quality human resources, and institutional improvement. Therefore, the Prime Minister stressed that there is ample room for economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Identifying geographical distance as the main obstacle, Chinh suggested exploring the possibility of opening direct flights to encourage trade and promoting the development of e-commerce and new methods of connectivity.

The Prime Minister urged the New Zealand Government, associations, and the business community to further strengthen economic, trade, and investment cooperation with Vietnam.

He encouraged them to open their markets to maximize the benefits of bilateral trade agreements, regional cooperation frameworks, and new-generation free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), and the Indian Ocean-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), in which both countries participate in. The Prime Minister proposed the removal of non-tariff barriers, especially for Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products.

To improve the effectiveness of the Joint Government Commission and dialogue mechanisms between the government and business communities of both countries, he called for increased dialogue and engagement with the Vietnamese business community.

Chinh emphasized the role of the ASEAN-New Zealand Business Council as an extension between the government and the business communities of both countries.

Affirming Vietnam's selective approach to attracting foreign investment, focusing on quality, efficiency, sustainability, technological application, and environmental protection, the Prime Minister pointed out that New Zealand businesses could cooperate and invest in Vietnam through specific programs and projects in areas such as green economy, digital economy, circular economy, knowledge-based economy, science and technology, innovation, electronic components, electric vehicles, semiconductor production, new energy sources such as hydrogen, renewable energy, essential minerals, financial centers, green finance, biotechnology, healthcare, high-tech agriculture, and high-quality workforce training.

Chinh also mentioned the Vietnamese community in New Zealand, which numbers about 15,000 people, many of whom are involved in commerce and investment. He urged New Zealand to continue supporting and creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest effectively in New Zealand and contribute more substantially to global supply and production chains.