Today, the Prime Minister and his wife began an official visit to the Republic of New Zealand.
This is Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's first official visit to New Zealand.
At the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, on March 11, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife led a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to begin an official visit to the Republic of New Zealand from March 11 to 14, 2018. This is Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's first official visit to New Zealand.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. |
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit takes place in the context of New Zealand’s desire to further strengthen relations with Vietnam, demonstrating its policy of valuing Vietnam’s role and position in the region; through Vietnam, to further strengthen New Zealand-ASEAN relations. Therefore, the visit is of great significance to both Vietnam and New Zealand.
The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1975. In 2009, the two countries established a Comprehensive Partnership and in 2015, the two countries issued a Joint Statement agreeing to strengthen and deepen the Comprehensive Partnership towards a Strategic Partnership.
On the sidelines of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, Vietnam and New Zealand also completed drafting and signed the Action Program for the 2017-2020 period.
If in terms of foreign affairs, New Zealand considers Vietnam an important factor in its policy towards the Asia-Pacific region, then in terms of economy, New Zealand considers Vietnam a potential partner. Vietnam's export turnover to New Zealand ranks 19th.
Last year, two-way trade turnover reached over 900 million USD and New Zealand is currently Vietnam's 31st largest trading partner. Currently, New Zealand has 28 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of over 100 million USD.
New Zealand has committed to providing Vietnam with nearly 27 million New Zealand dollars in ODA capital from July 2015 to June 2018, helping Vietnam promote poverty reduction, agricultural development, health care, and education.
Another notable highlight in the Vietnam-New Zealand relationship is education. According to statistics, there are nearly 3,000 Vietnamese students studying in New Zealand, ranking 9th among countries with Vietnamese students.
In regional and international forums, Vietnam and New Zealand have always actively supported each other, including in negotiating and promoting the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on March 8. The two countries have also promoted the early conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)./.