VN, New Zealand agree to boost trade ties
VGP – Viet Nam and New Zealand have agreed to boost bilateral trade ties, striving to bring two-way trade to the set target of US$1.7 billion by 2020.
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Photo: VGP |
The agreement was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and newly elected New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who is currently in Viet Nam for the APEC Summit 2017 in Da Nang city.
PM Phuc congratulated the Labor Party and PM Jacinda Ardern on their victory in the recent general election, voicing his wish to foster close cooperation aiming to strengthen the fine comprehensive partnership between the two countries.
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Photo: VGP |
Highly appreciating Viet Nam’s role as the host of the APEC Year 2017, the New Zealand PM said she believed that the success of the APEC Summit 2017 would contribute to creating a new motivation and maintaining the growth momentum for the Asia-Pacific region.
She asked Viet Nam to cooperate and share its experience as New Zealand hosts the APEC Year 2021.
Ardern also spoke highly of Viet Nam’s hosting of a meeting between the leaders of 11 member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), affirming New Zealand’s close coordination with Viet Nam and other member nations in working out an appropriate path for the TPP in the time ahead.
The two PMs agreed to strengthen the exchange of delegations and meeting as well as people-to-people exchange between the two sides. They applauded the two Foreign Ministries’ signing of a Viet Nam-New Zealand Action Program for 2017-2020 on this occasion, and assigned relevant ministries and sectors to fully and effectively implement the program.
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Photo: VGP |
PM Ardern affirmed New Zealand’s pledge to maintain the supply of official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam and scholarships for Vietnamese students, whilst recognizing Viet Nam’s proposal concerning the creation of favorable conditions for Viet Nam’s tropical fruits to penetrate into the New Zealand market.
Both sides also discussed a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea issue, stressing the need to peacefully settle the disputes in line with international law.
On the occasion, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc invited PM Jacinda Ardern to pay an official visit to Viet Nam in the near future. In reply, PM Ardern also extended her invitation to the Vietnamese PM to officially visit New Zealand on the occasion of his upcoming trip to Australia next year.
By Vien Nhu
