Commander of the Joint Forces New Zealand Rear Admiral James Gilmour speaks at a press conference upon the two ships' arrivals. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Khu

HCM City — Two ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy, frigate HMNZS Te Mana and sustainment vessel HMNZS Aotearoa, arrived at the international port of Hồ Chí Minh City on September 24, starting a five-day friendship visit to Việt Nam.

Leading the New Zealand delegation, Commander of the Joint Forces New Zealand Rear Admiral James Gilmour said the visit follows a successful trip to his country by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyễn Tân Cương, Chief of the General Staff of the Việt Nam People’s Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence, in July 2023.

It is a demonstration of the intensive cooperation between the two countries and aims to help strengthen their defence relations as well as people-to-people ties, he noted.

New Zealand pledges to boost defence cooperation with Việt Nam on the basis of respect for international law and the rules on navigation freedom, he went on, adding that it believes the development and expansion of bilateral relations will contribute to regional security.

Over the past years, Việt Nam and New Zealand have frequently shared information and promoted cooperation via the annual defence strategy and defence policy dialogues, along with within multilateral frameworks such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.

During their stay in HCM City, the officers and sailors of New Zealand will engage in a number of activities, including meetings between the countries’ navies, sports exchanges, and community activities.

They will also join the High Command of Việt Nam’s Naval Region 2 in a sand table exercise. — VNS