Viet Nam, New Zealand should strive to raise trade to US$3 billion by 2026

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the above statement at his meeting with New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon in Vientiane, Laos, on the sidelines of the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits on October 10.

Pham extended sincere thanks to the Government and people of New Zealand for providing NZD1 million (US$609,000) to help Viet Nam overcome the consequences of Typhoon Yagi.

 He called on New Zealand to continue expanding official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam and supporting English and specialized training for Vietnamese officials.

In reply, Prime Minister Luxon said that Viet Nam is a leading partner of New Zealand in the region.

New Zealand will promote mutually-beneficial cooperation in all areas with Viet Nam, continue to provide ODA in critical areas according to Viet Nam's development needs, especially high-tech agriculture, natural disaster management and response, and human resource development.

The two Prime Ministers agreed to work closely to organize meaningful activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 5th anniversary of Strategic Partnership between the two countries in 2025.

They also agreed to further strengthe cooperation traditional areas such as trade - investment, education - training, agriculture, people-to-people exchanges and expand cooperation to new fronts such as climate change response, green economy, and digital economy.

Both sides agreed to continue close coordination at multilateral forums, and make active and responsible contributions to resolving common issues in the region and the world.

Prime Minister Luxon emphasized that Viet Nam and New Zealand share common stances on a wide range of regional and international issues, thereby creating foundation for the two sides to boost cooperation in order to contribute to peace, stability and development in the Indo-Pacific region.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh invited Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to visit Viet Nam and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure./.