PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc holds talks with PM Jacinda Ardern

Overview of the talks between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern (Photo: VNA)

At the talks, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his gratitude to the Government and people of New Zealand for the warm hospitality extended to him and his delegation. The Vietnamese PM also congratulated the important achievements of New Zealand and the Labour Party over the past years.

The two sides expressed their satisfaction at the development of the friendship and comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and New Zealand, especially in regard of the pillars of politics, foreign affairs, trade and economics, education and training, labour, and people-to-people diplomacy.

The two PMs agreed to further intensify frequent high-level visits between nations, and to maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the Joint Commission on Trade and Economics, Bilateral Defence Dialogue and Political Consultations.

They also agreed to advance the Comprehensive Partnership and assigned relevant ministries and branches of both sides to actively and effectively realise the Plan of Action for 2017-2020.

The two sides acknowledged the recent positive developments in bilateral defence cooperation, such as the signing of the New Zealand-Vietnam Three Year Defence Cooperation Action Plan 2018-2021; and welcomed broader security and defence cooperation, covering military industries and research, cyber security, anti-terrorism, and countering drug-trafficking, money laundering, and illegal migration.

The two Government leaders noted that trade between the countries has reached a record level, with two-way trade in goods and services growing to US$1.24 billion in 2017, representing a 32% increase over 2016. They also expressed confidence that the target of US$1.7 billion in two-way trade could be reached by 2020.

At the end of the talks, the PMs witnessed the signing of three important documents, including an agreement between Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on economic and trade cooperation; a deal between Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries on cooperation in food safety and quality management; a strategic cooperation plan between Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and New Zealand’s educational agency on education and training for 2018-2020.

On the occasion, PM Ardern hosted a banquet for her Vietnamese counterpart and the other members of the Vietnamese delegation./.

NDO