Vietnam, New Zealand target $2 bln two-way trade

Vietnam and New Zealand are seeking to boost their bilateral trade to $2 billion by 2024 from last year’s $1.3 billion.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern agreed upon the target during their talks in Hanoi Monday. She is on a four-day visit starting the same day on a trade mission with a delegation of 18 business leaders.

Speaking to the press after the talks, PM Chinh said he and Ardern held successful talks in which they expressed their delight at the two countries' growing bilateral strategic partnership, especially in two-way trade.

He said both sides agreed they would open their markets wider for several fruits from each side. They lauded the signing of two cooperation deals in education and aviation, and the organization of a workshop on higher-education cooperation between universities.

The two premiers also laid out orientations to further deepening the nations’ strategic partnership for the benefit of each country and for peace, prosperity, cooperation, and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

The two countries will facilitate all-level visits, and promote people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges, while effectively implementing existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Vietnamese PM said both nations would continue to step up national defense-security links to effectively cope with rising traditional and non-traditional security challenges in the region, like transnational crimes, terrorism, natural disasters, and epidemics.

Looking to $2 billion in bilateral trade by 2024, the two leaders pledged to continue facilitating market access for agricultural products, work closely together to effectively implement agreements like the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to which both are members.

Vietnam welcomes New Zealand’s investment in fields of high demand such as education, training, manufacturing and processing, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, construction, information technology, and post-harvest processing technology, Chinh said.

Speaking to the press, New Zealand PM Ardern said both sides pledged to enhance relations in politics, diplomacy, security, trade, investment, climate change response, and people-to-people exchanges to ensure the security, safety, and prosperity of each country.

She said New Zealand decided to expand a project to help Vietnam mitigate dyke disaster risks, and remained ready to assist Vietnam in sustainable eco-friendly agriculture development and climate change response to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The premiers exchanged the jerseys of each country’s women’s football teams, hoping both team will play well at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by New Zealand and Australia. The Vietnamese women’s team will make their World Cup competitions for the first time ever.

Chinh and Ardern later witnessed the signing of two cooperation agreements between Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and New Zealand’s Ministry of Education, and between the two ministries of transport.

Vietnam and New Zealand upgraded their relations to a strategic partnership in 2020, and have since achieved numerous advancements, including a bilateral trade value of $1.3 billion in 2021, up 26.7% from a year earlier, according to official data.

New Zealand has pledged to provide Vietnam with around $16 million worth of official development assistance (ODA) between July 2021 and June 2024.