Nguyen Trong Nghia, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, and head of the committee’s Commission for Information, Education, and Mass Mobilisation, made the suggestion at a meeting with Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives (Parliament) Gerry Brownlee on September 22 (local time), as part of his ongoing visit to the country.

During the meeting, Nghia conveyed warm greetings and best wishes from Vietnamese leaders to Speaker Gerry Brownlee and highly appreciated the outcomes of his official visit to Vietnam in late August.

For his part, Speaker Gerry Brownlee warmly welcomed the Vietnamese delegation at a time when bilateral relations are flourishing. He expressed deep impressions of his recent visit to Vietnam, particularly witnessing the joyful atmosphere of the people during the 80th National Day celebrations. He congratulated Vietnam on its recent achievements and noted the country’s increasingly important role and position in the region and the world.

The top legislator of New Zealand also expressed his delight at the two countries upgrading their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership earlier this year. He emphasised the great potential for both sides to further expand cooperation in the future and affirmed his confidence that Vietnam would successfully achieve its development goals set for 2030 and 2045.

New Zealand will continue to accompany Vietnam in its development journey, contributing to the shared prosperity of both nations, he noted.

Nghia thanked the Government, Parliament, and people of New Zealand for their valuable support and assistance to Vietnam across various sectors over the past 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, as well as in the current nation-building and development process.

He proposed that both sides continue to nurture and strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, implement high-level agreements, and soon finalise the Action Programme for the 2025-2030 period to realise strategic cooperation. He stressed the need to further strengthen political ties through high-level and all-level exchanges via Party, State, and Government channels, while also enhancing people-to-people exchanges and cooperation among localities and businesses of the two countries.

Both sides agreed to direct relevant agencies to coordinate on concrete measures to further enhance cooperation in key areas such as economy, investment, trade, defence, and security. They also discussed the early establishment of a direct air route between the two countries to facilitate tourism, cultural exchanges, education and training, and other areas aligned with global trends.

On international issues, both sides emphasised the importance of ensuring an environment of peace, stability and development in the region and the world, and respecting international law. They also underscored the significance of freedom, security, and safety of navigation and overflight in the region.

Vietnam seeks stronger locality-to-locality cooperation with New Zealand

Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Phan Minh Giang has highlighted the potential and strengths of the City of Palmerston North, noting its complementarity with Vietnam’s development priorities, especially in science and technology, innovation, green transition, and high-quality agriculture.