National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and Governor-General of New Zealand Dame Cindy Kiro had talks in Wellington on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

WELLINGTON — National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ on Monday had meeting with Governor-General of New Zealand Dame Cindy Kiro in Wellington as part of his official visit to the country.

The Governor-General affirmed that New Zealand always considers its relationship with Việt Nam of strategic importance and that the two countries need to further strengthen ties in the context of a volatile world, for the benefit of the two peoples and two countries, and for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific.

NA Chair Huệ extended greetings from General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính to New Zealand’s Governor-General, and conveyed the invitation of President Phúc to make an official visit to Việt Nam.

The ongoing visit was made after the two countries had successfully contained COVID-19 outbreaks, fully reopened and are well in the process of socio-economic recovery, Huệ noted, adding that Việt Nam is New Zealand's first Strategic Partner in the Asia-Pacific region and reaffirming that Việt Nam always attaches importance to multifaceted cooperation with New Zealand.

He also expressed the wish for the two countries to strengthen cooperation on Party, Government, Parliamentary channels and people-to-people exchanges.

Governor-General Kiro expressed her admiration for the country, culture and people of Việt Nam, and sent her greetings to the senior leaders of Việt Nam.

Kiro said that after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, there have been 14,000 New Zealand tourists visiting Việt Nam and hopes that this number will increase in the near future.

The New Zealand leader also congratulated Việt Nam on recent development achievements and the increasing role and position of Việt Nam in the region and the world.

Kiro also expressed her wish to make an official visit to Việt Nam soon.

The two leaders agreed that the Việt Nam – New Zealand Strategic Partnership has been continuously consolidated and developed, even during the pandemic, as the two sides still maintained high-level exchanges and contacts, which contributed to the strengthening of political trust and creating motivation to further promote cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

The two leaders expressed pleasure at the resolve to work towards US$2 billion in bilateral trade by 2024 from the current $1.3 billion.

Cooperation in the fields of agriculture, labour, education, people-to-people exchanges, have continued to be promoted, the guest and host noted.

The Vietnamese top legislator is pleased to inform Kiro of the agreement on the import of agricultural products (strawberries and pumpkins) from New Zealand to Việt Nam during his trip, and before that, during Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit, New Zealand also agreed to import pomelos and lemons from Việt Nam.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen the exchange of delegations at all levels and channels; enhance strong development of relations between the two countries in all fields.

Besides the traditional areas of cooperation such as security, defence, education-training, agriculture, and labour, the two countries will focus on other potential areas such as climate change response, digital transformation; while continuing to support and coordinate with each other at regional and international forums.

NA Chair Huệ thanked New Zealand for actively supporting Vietnamese citizens in New Zealand during the pandemic and wished the Governor-General and the Government of New Zealand would continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in New Zealand to have a stable life and integrate into the host society, making positive contributions to bilateral ties. — VNS