Hanoi (VNA) – 🍨The visit to Vietnam by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand Winston Peters on June 5-6 demonstrates the importance the country attaches to strengthening relations with the Southeast Asian nation, a Vietnamese diplomat has said.

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Van Trung said the visit, as part of Peters’s trip to four Asian nations from June 5 -12, shows New Zealand's high regard for Vietnam's role and position in the region, which can bring new growth momentum for the New Zealand economy through cooperation. The visit will offer a chance for the two foreign ministries to discuss measures to implement high-level agreements through the foreign ministers' regular meeting mechanism, he said. The two sides will focus on solutions to successfully implement the Vietnam - New Zealand Action Plan for the 2021-2024 period, identifying priorities and new directions for the plan’s next phase. Regarding orientations for the bilateral relations, Ambassador Trung said “acceleration and breakthrough” are exact keywords to identify the development strategy for the bilateral relations today and in the coming years. Based on the strength, potential, and development demand of both sides, and the spirit of strategic cooperation with high political trust, it is necessary to make acceleration and breakthroughs in traditional cooperation areas such as trade or education - training, and high-tech transfer in agriculture, he stressed. Breakthrough is imperative in cooperation areas aimed at generating new growth momentum for the two countries, such as green economy, digital economy, environmentally friendly technology transfer, and emissions reduction, he noted. Labour and vocational training cooperation also needs to be sped up because New Zealand is strong in training and facing a shortage of labourers in many economic sectors. The diplomat highlighted the great potential for the two sides to expand cooperation in maritime economy, and the research and protection of the marine and ocean environment as the two countries share geographical similarities and New Zealand has expertise in policies and technologies in this field. The efficient implementation of the above-mentioned cooperation directions will create an important premise for elevating the bilateral relationship to a new height, as desired by the two countries’ Prime Ministers during their talks on the occasion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to New Zealand in early May, Trung said. According to the ambassador, the year 2025 marks an important milestone in the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and New Zealand as the two sides will mark 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations (June 19, 1975 - 2025) and five years since the implementation of the Strategic Partnership. It will lay a foundation for the next development stages of the bilateral relationship. The foreign ministers' second meeting on this occasion will allow the two sides to discuss more details of planned collaborative activities for this significant commemoration, he said. These activities aim to strengthen strategic trust and political reliability, stabilise traditional cooperation; and enhance and expand focused cooperation in economic, trade, security, and defence sectors; as well as increase activities for promoting culture, arts, and people-to-people exchanges, he added./.