This was confirmed at a working session between Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Defence, Admiral Nguyen Van Hien and Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy, Rear Admiral Tony Parr, who is on official visit to Vietnam from September 20-23.

They exchanged views on issues of mutual concern and discussed measures to strengthen ties between the two countries’ naval forces.

They also highly appreciated the fine development of bilateral defence cooperation.

The two defence ministries have established a mechanism for bilateral consultation at the level of heads of International Affairs Departments.

New Zealand is also a partner of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+).