Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (right) and New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon ahead of their official talks in Hà Nội on February 26. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon held talks in Hà Nội on Wednesday, aimed at strengthening bilateral relations.

The talks took place right after a welcome ceremony chaired by PM Chính for the visiting New Zealand Prime Minister.

Chính warmly welcomed Luxon’s first official visit to Việt Nam as Prime Minister of New Zealand, highlighting its significance as the two nations are celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and five years of strategic partnership.

He congratulated New Zealand on its recent socio-economic achievements and expressed gratitude for its support for Việt Nam's national construction and development efforts.

PM Luxon expressed his pleasure at visiting Việt Nam and congratulated the country on its impressive socio-economic growth, saying that Việt Nam is one of the countries with the highest economic growth rate in the past year. He emphasised Việt Nam is one of New Zealand’s priorities in Southeast Asia, and a reliable and potential partner with, while expressing his hope for further development of the two countries' relations.

Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the strong development of bilateral ties, emphasising the growing political trust and strategic confidence strengthened through the exchange of delegations at all levels as well as people-to-people exchanges, and effective bilateral cooperation mechanisms. They affirmed their political resolve to enhance engagement across aspects and support each other’s development goals while contributing to harmoniously solving common regional and global challenges.

The two PMs expressed their pleasure with two-way trade between growing over the years, from US$300 million in 2009 to $1.3 billion at present. Since 1992, more than 600 Vietnamese officials have received English language and professional training in New Zealand, while the New Zealand government has awarded over 600 scholarships for Vietnamese students at the high school, master’s, and doctoral levels. New Zealand has implemented numerous development aid projects in Việt Nam, including initiatives to improve the quality of avocado, dragon fruit, and passion fruit, as well as dam and dyke safety projects in central provinces.

In a significant step forward, the two leaders agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, reflecting the aspirations of their people and a shared commitment to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, and development. They underscored the need to swiftly develop an Action Programme implementing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for 2025-28 through concrete initiatives and collaborative projects.

Both sides agreed to deepen political and diplomatic ties through increasing all-level exchanges, maintaining bilateral cooperation mechanisms and implementing signed documents. They pledged to enhance defence and security collaboration, expand partnerships in defence industry and military trade, and work together in transnational crime prevention, maritime security, and United Nations peacekeeping operations.

The two PMs stressed the need for closer economic ties and more effective trade and investment cooperation. They agreed to develop a strategy to connect the two economies, promote the signing of agreements on economic, trade, and investment cooperation, and facilitate market access for each other’s agricultural products, toward the goal of diversifying supply chains and the target of $3 billion in bilateral trade turnover by 2026 while doubling two-way investment.

PM Chính welcomed stronger business connections between the two countries and affirmed Việt Nam's commitment to creating a favourable investment environment for New Zealand enterprises, particularly those involved in high-quality, modern technology projects.

Both sides also agreed to further breakthroughs in science and technology cooperation, digital transformation, green transition, agriculture, and climate change response. New Zealand pledged continued support in finance, technology and knowledge transfer to help Việt Nam fulfil its international climate commitments, transition to clean energy, and develop renewable energy.

Additionally, New Zealand will enhance support for Việt Nam in sustainable agricultural development and climate adaptation, particularly in the Mekong Delta region.

The two sides also concurred to foster closer people-to-people exchanges through cooperation in education and training, workforce development, and tourism. New Zealand will continue its English Language Training for Officials (ELTO) programme for Vietnamese officials, increase visa quotas for Vietnamese citizens under the Working Holiday Programme, and facilitate the Vietnamese community in New Zealand.

Both sides encourage their airlines to open direct flight routes and promote relationships between localities and universities. Earlier today, at the Education Connectivity Forum held at the Foreign Trade University, the New Zealand PM announced 98 scholarships at various levels for Vietnamese students.

Regarding regional and international issues, the two sides agreed that amid regional and global complex developments, the two countries strive to promote dialogue and build trust in the region, increase coordination of stance and support each other at regional and international forums, particularly the United Nations, ASEAN, and ASEAN-led mechanisms, while highlighting ASEAN’s central role in the evolving regional architecture.

The New Zealand PM welcomed Việt Nam's role as the coordinator for ASEAN-New Zealand relations and agreed to strengthen ties with ASEAN, toward establishing the ASEAN-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership framework in the near future.

The Vietnamese PM highly appreciated New Zealand’s stance on upholding international law in the region and resolving disputes in the East Sea through peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS.

Following their talks, the two PMs witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents in diplomacy, climate change, agriculture, healthcare, and education, and held a joint press conference. — VNA/VNS