Hanoi (VNA) - The seventh meeting of theJoint Trade and Economic Commission (JTEC) between Vietnam and New Zealand washeld online on October 23, co-chaired by🎃 Deputy Minister of Industry and TradeTran Quoc Khanh and New Zealand’s Deputy Secretary Trade and Economic VangelisVitalis.

The meeting is part of the important cooperationmechanisms to discuss and bolster the two countries’ trade and economic cooperation. Participants reviewed the recent cooperation in the fieldsof trade, investment, agriculture, education and training, tourism, aviation,and employment. They spoke highly of the efforts and closecollaboration in the implementation of agreements in economy and trade reachedbetween high-ranking leaders of the two countries. The two sides also consented to continue enhancing cooperationin those endeavours, as well as in multilateral trade talks, farm producetrade, clean industry, and farm produce supply chain development. In his remarks, Khanh underlined that both Vietnamand New Zealand are dynamic economies and have rolled out reform measures tomake use of their advantages and potential for further integration into theglobal economy. Notably, the two countries hold huge potential forstrengthening cooperation in trade, industry, and investment, and need to exertmore effort in bringing bilateral relations on par with the strategicpartnership, elevated in July. Regarding the impact of COVID-19, delegates agreedto foster bilateral and regional cooperation for economic recovery. They alsopledged to ensure that economic and trade cooperation frameworks to which Vietnamand New Zealand are signatories aim at the further expansion of two-way trade. In addition, they discussed prioritised products ofeach side, particularly lime and pomelo from Vietnam and strawberries and pumpkinfrom New Zealand, to facilitate bilateral trade. The countries will regularly update regulations andstandards on quality, hygiene, and food safety for agro-forestry-fisheryexports and share experience in trade promotions, brand building, post-harvest technologies,and agro-fishery processing. They also agreed to continue to join hands andsupport each other at cooperation mechanisms and frameworks, notably theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership, the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free TradeAgreement, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Of particular note, delegates affirmed that thesustainable development of the Mekong sub-region plays an essential role in therealisation of the ASEAN Community Vision. Vietnam called on New Zealand to partner withcountries in the Mekong sub-region in disaster management, water-food-energysecurity, climate-smart agriculture, public health, and human resources. Data from the Asia-Africa Market Department at theMinistry of Industry and Trade show that Vietnam is the 14th largesttrade partner and 15th largest importer of New Zealand, rankingfifth in ASEAN. Vietnam-New Zealand trade has enjoyed average growthof 14.2 percent annually since the establishment of the comprehensivepartnership in 2009, reaching 1.1 billion USD last year. Two-way trade totalled 1.4 billion USD in the firsthalf of this year, up 15 percent against the 2016 figure./.