New Zealand Prime Minister’s Viet Nam visit to open up new business opportunities

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Luxon will pay an official visit to Viet Nam and attend the second ASEAN Future Forum 2025 from February 25-28.

In a recent interview with VGP, Beresford said, Prime Minister Luxon has a very ambitious agenda for New Zealand in terms of its relationships with Southeast Asia. His government has moved quickly to reset foreign policy, and as part of that, Viet Nam has been identified as one of New Zealand's most important partners in the region and globally.

The Prime Minister's official visit to Viet Nam not only marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, but reinforce and expand the relationship with such an important partner, she noted.

"If you think of a relationship like a piece of fabric, the relationship architecture are like strands of fiber woven together, make the fabric stronger. So in a sense, the Prime Minister Luxon's visit to Viet Nam is designed to strengthen those fibers and draw them tighter so that in an uncertain environment that we live in today. The fabric of our relationship remains strong", shared the diplomat.

According to the Ambassador, over the last 50 years, there is really not many areas of cooperation that New Zealand and Viet Nam don't work together in.

A delegation of business leaders from New Zealand will accompany the Prime Minister, she said, adding that a number of cooperation agreements with Vietnamese partners will be signed during the visit.

The two nations will continue to strengthen cooperation in traditional areas. By applying New Zealand research, science and technology to traditional areas like agriculture and education, New Zealand can add value to those sectors and can support Viet Nam's economic growth.

Both sides have made practical progress since the establishment of strategic partnership in 2015, she told, expressing her hope that an outcome of this upcoming visit might be a further strength for that relationship.

"It makes sense in the world that we live in today that countries like Viet Nam and New Zealand who support peace and security and stability and prosperity for their peoples work even more closely to preserve those systems that have served us so well for so long. So elevating our relationship with Viet Nam to me is total sense", emphasized the Ambassador.

Large degree of strategic trust between Viet Nam, New Zealand

Regarding Viet Nam's development policy in the 'Era of National Rise', Beresford said, one of the most interesting parts of her experience in Viet Nam is the vision and discipline with which the Vietnamese government develops its policies, including economic growth policies and implementation.

"I've been working in foreign policy for 25 years and I've been posted in five countries, including the U.S., and I have never seen a more rigorous intellectual academic approach to policy development than I see in Viet Nam", she highlighted.

"It's extraordinary and it's something that the rest of the region and the world could learn from. About New Zealand's economic growth plans, they are just as ambitious, but from a much smaller base. With my Prime Minister's visit next week, I'll be telling him that if he returns to Viet Nam five years from now, he won't recognize it. It's truly an inspiring place and the pace of development is astonishing for everyone to watch", the Ambassador shared.

Beresford said, New Zealand is looking to play its part in Viet Nam's growth story as a trusted partner and friend. New Zealand has some modest offerings but both nations have a large degree of strategic trust. Prime Minister Luxon's visit is designed to further grow that trust as a sign of respect to Viet Nam, to pay homage to Vietnamese leadership and to demonstrate the seriousness of which New Zealand take the development of this relationship.

Highlights in Viet Nam-New Zealand ties

Regarding achievements in the bilateral ties over the last 50 years, the Ambassador said, New Zealand began diplomatic relations with Viet Nam via delivering education scholarships under development program. The relationship since then has developed many new strands. The fabric is stronger and wider than it was 50 years ago.

A part of that is the bilateral relationship architecture. Both nations work together across all fields such as agriculture, sustainability, climate change, research, and education. New Zealand offers a range of scholarships with Viet Nam but are also constantly engaging with Viet Nam across the precarious.

Both countries began a new piece of architecture, the Oceans Dialogue, which took place in Ha Noi last year that enables both sides to open up new avenues for conversation about how progressing shared interests in oceans and maritime issues.

In addition, regional cooperation between the two nations is very strong and both sides are very much aligned in their approach to that. The two countries support the international order, the rule of law, and free and open trade for the prosperity of peoples.

Regarding energy cooperation, New Zealand has 80 percent renewable energy which powers homes and businesses. New Zealand is keen to share those with countries like Viet Nam who are also looking to make the transition to more renewable energy, but without disruption to energy sources for businesses.

New Zealand has a particular strength in hydro electricity, but also in wind power, of which Viet Nam is very interested in. New Zealand stands ready to share that innovation with Viet Nam.

Both countries have very strong articulated plans for economic growth and are looking for areas of cooperation that would be mutually supportive in terms of their economic growth plans.

"One thing that I'm interested in pursuing in my time in Viet Nam is strengthening our science, technology and innovation initiatives. New Zealand's got a very long history of innovation and a very strong science and research community. Those are areas where New Zealand and Viet Nam could really work well together", she stated.

Currently, New Zealand is working with Viet Nam to produce crops that produce less carbon emissions, to help Viet Nam reach its carbon and its emissions goals. Besides, New Zealand expects to help Viet Nam develop new varieties of fruit, and make the fruits that grow naturally so well to improve Viet Nam's exports. All of that are done with advanced science and technology and using a lot of New Zealand innovation, told the diplomat.

New Zealand Prime Minister's attendance at second ASEAN Future Forum 2025

Regarding Prime Minister Luxon's attendance at the second ASEAN Future Forum 2025, the Ambassador expressed thanks to Viet Nam for the initiative of creating this regional forum to talk about the future of ASEAN.

"In New Zealand's view, ASEAN centrality is at the heart of maintaining the stability and prosperity for all peoples. New Zealand's support for ASEAN couldn't be stronger. And that's why our Prime Minister is particularly interested to attend this summit and to support Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in making some remarks to the ASEAN audience about how we see that relationship", she shared.

Beresford noted that 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue Relations, adding that New Zealand is ASEAN's second dialogue partner, just a short amount of time after Australia.

The diplomat stated that programs with ASEAN are just as rich as New Zealand's programs with Viet Nam and New Zealand expects to further strengthen ASEAN-New Zealand ties in the upcoming time./.