Vietnam and New Zealand develop relations

New Zealand's Ambassador to Vietnam, Caroline Rachel Beresford, highlighted the important, intense and broad relations between the two countries, during a meeting with the press ahead of the 49th session.^H Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (June 19, 1975 – 2024).

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>>Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Vietnam and New Zealand

>>Vietnam strengthens relations with New Zealand

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kero in Wellington on 11 March.

Photo: VNA/CVN

Considering that studying Vietnamese or traveling to New Zealand contributes greatly to bilateral relations, Ambassador Caroline Rachel Beresford said that her country pays great attention to Vietnamese students and hopes to welcome more of them to enhance mutual understanding and trust in order to work together towards the future.

She continued that in 2025, the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and five years of their strategic partnership, considering that this step will represent the beginning of new areas of cooperation commensurate with the strengths and competitive advantages of each of them.

She took agricultural technology as an example, noting that New Zealand has advanced agricultural technologies while Vietnam needs them now, especially for the Mekong Delta, which is threatened by various environmental problems.

Given this, future bilateral relations should focus on areas where the two countries can complement each other, the diplomat said. She also expressed her hope that these ties would extend to new links such as digitalization and space.

International cooperation

Ambassador Caroline Rachel Beresford highlighted the US$3 billion bilateral trade target and said that to achieve this, New Zealand is prioritizing the full realization of trade commitments between the two countries, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Partnership. Forum for Cooperation (APEC) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

She added that countries must maximize these agreements by exploiting the strengths of each party.

She stressed that during her term, she will make efforts to help companies from both sides, and expressed confidence that more New Zealand companies will come to invest in Vietnam.

Regarding agricultural cooperation, the diplomat said that new opportunities are now wide open for sustainable agriculture, as consumers in particularly demanding markets such as Europe and the United States demand traceability of products to ensure they are clean and safe. New Zealand has developed the technologies needed to meet these requirements, which it can also share with Vietnam.

As part of a more than NZ$6 million (US$3.6 million) project announced during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit last March, New Zealand will collaborate with Vietnam to develop passion fruit cultivation. This project will help Vietnamese companies export more passion fruit products to New Zealand. The diplomat concluded that in the past, both sides have had successes regarding Vietnamese dragon fruit.

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