Hanoi (VNA) - Online high-leveltalks between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his New Zealand counterpartJacinda Ardern, scheduled for July 22, demonstrate Vietnam’s wishes andcommitments to work together with New Zealand to quickly advance bilateral tiesto a new high.

The elevation of ties matches the spiritof the joint statement on enhancing the comprehensive partnership towards astrategic partnership, issued during the visit to New Zealand by Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc in 2018.

Vietnam and New Zealand establisheddiplomatic ties on June 19, 1975 and the bilateral relationship has developedpositively and sustainably over the course of the past 45 years.

New Zealand opened an embassy in Hanoi anda consulate general in HCM City in November 1995, while Vietnam opened an embassyin New Zealand in May 2003 and a commercial affairs office in Auckland in 2005,which was moved to Wellington in 2007.

The relationship has made great, rapid stridesforward over the years, with the establishment of a comprehensive partnershipin September 2009, which is seen as a milestone helping to promote bilateralties across fields in a more comprehensive, pragmatic, and effective manner.

The two sides reached an action programmefor 2013-2016 on the implementation of the comprehensive partnership, andissued a joint statement in which they agreed to foster and deepen thecomprehensive partnership towards a strategic partnership in March 2015. Theysigned another action programme for 2017-2020 on the sidelines of APEC 2017.

The two countries have maintainedhigh-level exchanges and meetings of delegations, with the latest on the NewZealand side being the visits to Vietnam by Governor-General Jerry Mateparae in August 2013, Prime Minister JohnKey in July 2010 and November 2015, and Prime Minister Ardern during the APECEconomic Leaders’ Meeting in 2017.

Visits to New Zealand were made by Party General Secretary Nong DucManh in September 2009, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in March 2015, and PrimeMinister Phuc in March 2018.

They have also maintained bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including astrategic dialogue on national defence at the deputy ministerial level, whichwas first held in November 2015.

Two-way trade has also expanded over the years.As of the end of 2018, New Zealand had 28 valid projects worth about 101.94million USD in Vietnam, ranking it 41st out of 120 countries andterritories investing in the country. Meanwhile, Vietnam had six joint ventureprojects valued at 25.62 million USD in New Zealand.

New Zealand has increased its officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) to Vietnam, from 2.3 million USD during the2003-2004 financial year to around 7.4 million USD for 2012-2013 and 18.6million USD for 2015-2018, via both bilateral and multilateral channels,focusing on such areas as personnel development, education and training, andsustainable agricultural and rural development.

Progress has also been seen in cooperationin national defence and security, education and training, labour, transport,tourism, and agriculture.

New Zealand Ambassador in Vietnam WendyMathews said the two countries’ agricultural sectors are reciprocal. NewZealand has allowed the importation of Vietnamese mango, dragon fruit, andrambutan. In turn, Vietnam has opened its doors to New Zealand’s potatoes,frozen beef, kiwi fruit, and apples.

They supported each other and coordinated closelyin the negotiations over and signing of the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement and are pushing aheadwith talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.

More than 5,000 Vietnamese are living inNew Zealand, mostly in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington./.