VN, New Zealand seek fresh momentum for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
VGP - The upcoming State visit to New Zealand by General Secretary and President To Lam is expected to inject fresh momentum into the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and New Zealand, with a focus on translating political commitments into concrete projects and practical benefits for people and businesses, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong said.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong
Nguyen said the trip, scheduled on August 12-13 at the invitation of New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kiro, is of special significance as it will be the first State visit to New Zealand by a Vietnamese General Secretary and President.
It will also be the first visit by a key Vietnamese leader to New Zealand since the two countries upgraded their bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in February 2025, he noted.
The visit reflects Viet Nam's consistent policy of attaching importance to its relations with New Zealand, a friendly partner with considerable potential and many shared interests with Viet Nam in the South Pacific region, Nguyen said.
He described the trip as an important milestone in advancing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a stronger, more substantive and effective manner in the new period.
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Solid foundation for bilateral ties
Viet Nam and New Zealand have built a solid foundation for bilateral relations over more than five decades since establishing diplomatic ties.
In 2025, as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, they also decided to upgrade their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. "These two milestones in the same year reflect the maturity of bilateral ties and the trust built between the two countries over generations," Nguyen said.
The Deputy FM noted that the visit comes as Viet Nam enters a new development period, with priorities including developing high-quality human resources, high-value agriculture and green growth—areas in which New Zealand has considerable expertise and international recognition.
Accordingly, the two sides plan to step up concrete cooperation in education, agriculture, trade and sustainable development, while seeking to translate political commitments into practical benefits, programs and projects that support the development goals of both countries and contribute to peace, stability, sustainable development and resilience in the region.
Reviewing bilateral relations, Nguyen highlighted the complementarity of the two economies as a key advantage, creating considerable room for cooperation toward the sustainable development of both countries.
He also underlined growing political trust and mutual understanding as among the most important achievements in bilateral ties.
The two countries maintain regular high-level contacts and annual consultations between their foreign ministries, while closely coordinating at multilateral forums, including ASEAN, APEC and the United Nations.
As the ASEAN-New Zealand Country Coordinator for 2024-2027, Viet Nam has worked closely with New Zealand to promote the upgrading of ASEAN-New Zealand relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, contributing to stronger New Zealand engagement with Southeast Asia, he said.
Strong potential for economic cooperation
Economic cooperation between Viet Nam and New Zealand still has significant room for expansion. Bilateral trade is moving toward the target of US$3 billion, with the two sides working to broaden agricultural market access, address technical barriers and make more effective use of shared trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).
The two economies are largely complementary rather than directly competitive, creating substantial potential for cooperation, particularly in agriculture.
New Zealand has strengths in breeding technologies, post-harvest technology, value-chain management and low-emission agriculture—areas where Viet Nam has significant demand.
The two countries are also expanding cooperation in smart agriculture, climate change adaptation and carbon markets.
Education remains another longstanding bridge between the two countries.
Since the 1990s, when Viet Nam was accelerating its economic reform and international integration, New Zealand has offered English-language training for Vietnamese officials through the English Language Training for Officials (ELTO) program. Many generations of Vietnamese officials have also benefited from New Zealand scholarships.
Cooperation has since expanded into vocational education, skills training and the development of high-quality human resources./.
