First Viet Nam-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held
VGP - Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta co-chaired the first Viet Nam-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting under an action plan to implement the Viet Nam-New Zealand strategic partnership framework for 2021-2024.
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta co-chair the first Viet Nam-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Wellington, New Zealand, September 14, 2022 - Photo: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The meeting took place on the occasion of the Vietnamese diplomat's official visit to New Zealand from September 13-15.
The Kiwi diplomat underscored the significance of the meeting, which aims to promote Viet Nam-New Zealand strategic partnership in both bilateral and multilateral aspects.
She vowed to facilitate Vietnamese enterprises to increase investment and expand operation in New Zealand, particularly in fields of Viet Nam's potential such as processing, retail and agriculture.
New Zealand attaches importance to the strategic partnership with ASEAN and will advocate sub-region mechanisms, including Mekong, she emphasized.
For his side, Bui asserted that Viet Nam always attaches importance to strengthening the fruitful cooperation with New Zealand, a strategic partner of Viet Nam in the South Pacific as well as a strategic partner of ASEAN.
He expressed thanks to New Zealand for providing official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam to realize sustainable development goals (SDGs) over the recent years, calling for more ODA from New Zealand into other sectors such as sustainable agriculture, climate change response and innovation.
The minister suggested New Zealand create favorable conditions for Viet Nam's farm products to enter the country, such as lemon, grapefruit and logan.
Bui recommended the Kiwi Government increase scholarships for Vietnamese students and officials and facilitate Vietnamese students to return New Zealand in the post-COVID-19 period.
Both sides spoke highly of the effective and practical developments in the bilateral relationship across all spheres, especially the two-way trade value in 2021 reached US$1.3 billion, up 26.7 percent against the previous year.
They pledged to continue consolidating political trust via delegation exchanges and maintenance of bilateral cooperative mechanisms and dialogues.
The two ministers agreed to effectively implement new-generation trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The pair discussed on raising quotas for Vietnamese citizens to participate in the New Zealand working holiday program and resume direct flights between the two countries.
The two sides need to study and promote fields that match the two countries' potential, demand and goals, such as climate change adaptation, forest preservation and development, sustainable agricultural development, fishing cooperation and fishing cooperation and maritime environmental protection, they agreed.
They took the occasion to discuss international and regional issues of mutual concerns, pledging to coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums and organizations, especially the UN and ASEAN.
Both sides shared the stance of ensuring peace, stability, security, cooperation and development in the region based on rules, and addresing issues, including the East Sea issue on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
