Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Governor-General of New Zealand

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. Photo: Duong Giang - VNA

The Governor-General assessed the visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation as having special significance, ahead of the two countries celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1975 - 2025) and firmly believed that the visit would be a great success, contributing to promoting the Vietnam - New Zealand Strategic Partnership. Governor-General Cindy Kiro expressed her admiration for Vietnam, a self-reliant nation; highly appreciated Vietnam's increasingly important position and role in the region and internationally, especially within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); affirmed that New Zealand always considers Vietnam a very important partner in the Southeast Asian region.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his delight at his first official visit to New Zealand and thanked the Governor-General and the people of New Zealand for the warm welcome, imbued with national identity, given to him and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh respectfully conveyed to the Governor-General the regards of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and senior leaders of Vietnam.

Announcing the results of his talks with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon the same morning, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed that the bilateral relationship over the past nearly 50 years has developed increasingly deeply and substantially, especially since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2020, and emphasized that there is still much room for the two sides to further promote the Strategic Partnership, in line with the interests of the two peoples, for peace, stability and development of the region. In that spirit, the two sides agreed to promote and deepen the Vietnam - New Zealand relationship in all fields, promote people-to-people exchanges, promote the role of the Friendship Associations of the two countries and consider resuming direct flights soon.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. Photo: Duong Giang - VNA

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized six areas of cooperation that the two sides need to focus on, including increasing the exchange of high-level delegations and fully implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms; promoting trade and investment; deepening cooperation in education and training, especially increasing scholarships; cooperating in building a green economy, sustainable development, and environmental protection; enhancing cultural exchanges; and promoting labor cooperation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked New Zealand to pay attention and continue to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live and study in New Zealand, considering this an important bridge to strengthen the friendship and effective cooperation between the two countries. Governor-General Cindy Kiro affirmed that she always supports and cares for the Vietnamese community, appreciating that the community has joined hands to build New Zealand, contributing to enriching the New Zealand national identity.

At the meeting, the two sides also affirmed to continue close coordination and mutual support at regional and international forums.

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