Wellington (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister PhamMinh Chinh and his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon identified majororientations for further strengthening cooperation in multiple areas during talksin Wellington on March 11 morning.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the stable andincreasingly effective development of their countries’ strategic partnership inall aspects, including politics - diplomacy, economy - trade, security - defence,education - training, agriculture, and labour, especially the frequent exchanges of high-rankingdelegations and the good growth of bilateral trade, by 60% during 2017 - 2022.

To further intensify multi-faceted cooperation, first, theyagreed to stabilise and consolidate political trust, strategic trust, andpolitical - diplomatic cooperation to create a more solid foundation forbilateral ties. Vietnam and New Zealand will step up mutual visits and meetingsat all levels and via all channels while effectively implementing cooperationmechanisms, including regular meetings between the PMs and ministers of the twocountries.

On this occasion, PM Chinh, who is on an official visit tothe South Pacific nation, invited his counterpart to pay an official trip toVietnam at a suitable time. Luxon accepted the invitation withpleasure.

The two sides also agreed to promote the fruitfulimplementation of the action plan for implementing the Vietnam - New Zealandstrategic partnership 2021 - 2024, and soon build an action plan for the newperiod.

Second, the leaders concurred in enhancing and expandingcooperation in all important cooperation pillars of the strategic partnership,including economy - trade - investment, security - defence, agriculture, andpeople-to-people interaction.

Agreeing to foster economic, trade, and investment ties, theylook to raise the countries’ trade revenue to 2 billion USD in 2024 and 3billion USD in 2026, and soon double bilateral investment through appropriatemeasures, including opening markets and reducing trade barriers.

Vietnam welcomes New Zealand investment in all fields, particularlyeducation - training, high-quality agriculture, and renewable energy, PM Chinhremarked.

Atthe talks, PM Luxon announced the launch of the third phase of a project on developinghigh-quality fruit varieties (Vietfruits) worth 6.24 million NZD (3.85 millionUSD) to help small-scaled passion fruit farmers and other stakeholders in valuechains to increase productivity.

Amid uncertainties in the region and the world,the PM were unanimous in expanding defence - security cooperation; effectivelyresponding to traditional and non-traditional security challenges that areincreasing in the region, including transnational crimes, terrorism, naturaldisasters, and epidemics; and strengthening cooperation in peacekeeping,maritime security, and intelligence information so as to contribute to regionaland global peace, stability, and cooperation.

The two leaders agreed to step up agricultural cooperation, including in climate change response and developing high-tech agriculture, plant saplings, and food safety management.

They reached consensus on expanding collaboration in culture, education - training, and people-to-people exchanges. PM Chinh showed his hope that New Zealand will increase scholarships for Vietnamese students, and its universities will strengthen links with Vietnamese counterparts, thus meeting the need for high-quality human resources of the Southeast Asian country. He added that the early reopening of direct flights between the two nations will be an important motivation to expand cooperation in these fields.

Third, the Vietnamese leader agreed to accelerate and make breakthroughs in cooperation in science and technology, innovation, green and digital economic development, environmentally-friendly technology transfer, emission reduction, and emerging technology industries such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), and semiconductor. He proposed creating breakthroughs in marine economic cooperation and marine environmental protection, accelerating labour cooperation and vocational training, and creating conditions for Vietnamese labourers to work in New Zealand.

Discussing regional and international issues, the two PMs affirmed to maintain coordination and mutual support at regional and international forums, especially the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN-led mechanisms, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum; and back each other's candidacies at regional and international organisations.

PM Chinh thanked New Zealand for supporting Vietnam's candidacy to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term, congratulating New Zealand on successfully assuming the role as Chair of the Comprehensive Partnership for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2023, and affirming that Vietnam will actively promote practical cooperation programmes between ASEAN and New Zealand in its capacity as coordinator of ASEAN - New Zealand relations for 2024-2027. PM Luxon affirmed that New Zealand will support and cooperate closely with Vietnam when the Southeast Asian nations hosts the APEC Year 2027.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea; and addressing disputes by peaceful means, on the basis of respect for international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They agreed to share information and strengthen maritime cooperation, and strive together to turn the East Sea into a sea of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation and development./.