New Zealand treasures ties with Vietnam

McCully made the remark during talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on November 7.

He was pleased at the effective implementation of development projects in Vietnam and voiced his government’s commitment to grant more official development assistance (ODA) to the country.

Minister Minh affirmed Vietnam’s policy of attaching great importance to strengthening friendship and cooperation with New Zealand, especially in the areas of politics, trade, investment, and national security and defence.

The two sides agreed to convene a meeting of the Joint Trade and Economic Committee (JTEC) as soon as possible, and speed up negotiations for and signing an agreement on double taxation avoidance, with a view to increasing two-way trade turnover to US$1 billion by 2015.

They discussed measures to boost bilateral cooperation in agricultural production, processing industries, dairy production, mineral exploitation, energy, tourism, and education and training.

Both parties will work closely to implement the Vietnam-New Zealand Action Plan over the 2010-2013 period as part of activities marking the 40^th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations in 2015.

They also pledged to support each other in regional and international forums including the upcoming East Asia Summit, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), as well as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

Later the same day, FM Murray McCully was received by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.