HomePoliticsPromoting Vietnam-New Zealand comprehensive partnership in a substantive and effective mannerSunday, 2015-11-15 03:22:52 Font Size: | Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his New Zealand counterpart John Key Font Size: | NDO - At the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has arrived in Hanoi for his second visit to Vietnam in his current role as head of the New Zealand government.This comes after his first Vietnam visit in 2010 and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to New Zealand in March earlier this year as the two countries are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.The event affirms that the two countries attach importance to promoting the Vietnam-New Zealand comprehensive partnership in a more intensive, substantive and effective manner.The beautiful and peaceful island nation of New Zealand is located in the south of the Pacific ocean with a population of more than 4.5 million inhabiting an area of 268,680 square kilometres. Its gross domestic product was US$182.6 billion in 2013 and GDP per capita in 2014 was over US$43,000.New Zealand’s current political and security situation is stable. The government is led by the National Party, which won the third consecutive term in the 2014 general election. The country has maintained decent economic growth with its GDP expanding by 3.7% in 2014, compared with 2.7% in 2013. It has been predicted that the New Zealand economy will grow by 3% this year. New Zealand ranks second on the World Bank’s international list of ease of doing business. Its major trading partners are China, Australia, ASEAN and the EU.Besides implementing a foreign policy of independence, multilateralisation, diversification and international integration, the current government of New Zealand also focuses on bolstering ties with the Asia-Pacific region through bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and promoting relations with Asian countries. New Zealand also actively participates in economic and political-security multilateral mechanisms and is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2015-2016 term.This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and New Zealand. The comprehensive partnership established in 2009 continues to see strong development towards a strategic partnership. The two countries maintain cordial political relations and regularly exchange delegations at various levels. The two sides are actively implementing commitments reached during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to New Zealand in March 2015, as well as the Action Plan for 2013-2016.Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has grown strongly in recent years with two-way trade reaching over US$860 million in 2014 and targeting US$1.7 billion by 2020. As of August this year, New Zealand had invested in 25 projects in Vietnam with registered capital totalling US$82.12 million. New Zealand began providing ODA to Vietnam in 1995, in recent years the total ODA amount has averaged US$10 million annually, with the majority of funding going to human resources development, education and training, agriculture and rural development, and sustainable development.The two sides have also expanded cooperation to other areas including security-defence, education-training, agriculture, labour, air services as well as strengthening cooperation at regional and international forums, within the ASEAN and the United Nations. Tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges have also been fostered. There are currently 5,000 Vietnamese people residing and 2,000 students studying in New Zealand.During the visit, leaders of the two countries are expected to discuss measures to further the comprehensive partnership, especially in trade, investment, agriculture and air services, at a time when a series of major trade agreements have concluded and the ASEAN Community is to be established. The two sides will also discuss strengthening cooperation and supporting each other at international forums and organisations.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s official visit to Vietnam continues to deepen the bilateral comprehensive partnership towards a strategic partnership, meeting the desires and interests of each country’s people, as well as contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Pacific region and throughout the world.
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