Joint press statement of Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh and Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon

We would like to respectfully introduce the full text of the Joint Press Statement of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on this occasion:

On the morning of March 11, 2024, after the official welcoming ceremony, the two Prime Ministers had an in-depth and constructive meeting.

The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed the deep and strong friendship and Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and New Zealand, underpinned by strong people-to-people exchanges and close cooperation in the areas of politics-diplomacy, economics-trade-investment, education, labor, science and technology.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon assessed that the bilateral relationship has been given new impetus since being upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2020; affirming that Vietnam is one of New Zealand's important partners in Southeast Asia, one of the fastest growing economies in the world and New Zealand's 14th largest trading partner. The two Prime Ministers discussed opportunities to rapidly increase two-way trade turnover, aiming for the target of 3 billion USD by 2026 through enhancing tourism and education cooperation as well as removing non-tariff barriers, stepping up trade promotion activities, fully implementing existing free trade agreements, and studying measures to facilitate two-way investment.

During his visit, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a new grant of NZ$6.24 million to Vietnam’s agricultural sector for the “High Quality Fruit Varieties Development Project (VietFruit)” Phase 3, a partnership between New Zealand Plant and Food Research and Vietnam to boost Vietnam’s passion fruit industry. This follows a similar project with dragon fruit that was very successful.

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the Vietnam-New Zealand Strategic Education Engagement Plan 2023-2026, which will facilitate collaboration between higher education institutions between the two countries, support Vietnam in improving education models through digital means, and establish an alumni network.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon affirmed the New Zealand Government’s commitment to promoting international education and diversifying the international education market. The two Prime Ministers also discussed opportunities to attract more Vietnamese students to study at New Zealand’s prestigious universities.

The two Prime Ministers also welcomed the enhancement of cooperation in other areas; highly appreciated the signing of economic, trade and financial cooperation agreements and the implementation of security and defense dialogue mechanisms on this occasion.

The two Prime Ministers also agreed to hold the first ever bilateral Ocean Dialogue in 2024 on international law, governance and conservation of the sea. The two Prime Ministers reiterated their countries’ determination to abide by international law, including the United Nations Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and committed to cooperating with each other and with other international partners to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the world, including the East Sea.

The two Prime Ministers said that the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025 will be an opportunity for the two countries to expand cooperation in a number of areas of mutual interest such as green economy, climate change, digital transformation and high-tech agriculture.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his satisfaction with the implementation of the Strategic Partnership Action Program for the 2021-2024 period, which has achieved many positive results in the fields of economy, trade, defense, security, education, labor, etc.; proposed to increase the exchange of high-level visits and contacts, actively implement existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, creating a foundation for upgrading relations to a new level in the coming time.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh invited Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to pay an official visit to Vietnam at a suitable time and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon happily accepted the invitation.