Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrives in Auckland, on official visit to New Zealand

The Prime Minister and his wife, along with the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation, arrived at Auckland Airport for an official visit to New Zealand from March 10 to 11 at the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

New Zealand officials welcome Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife at Auckland airport. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

According to the special correspondent of the Vietnam News Agency, after attending the Special Summit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations and paying an official visit to Australia, at 7:00 p.m. (local time, 1:00 p.m. Hanoi time) on March 9, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife Le Thi Bich Tran, along with the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation, arrived at Auckland airport for an official visit to New Zealand from March 10 to 11 at the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Welcoming Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife and the Vietnamese delegation at Auckland Airport on the New Zealand side were Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee; Director of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rod Harris; New Zealand Ambassador appointed to Vietnam Caroline Beresford. On the Vietnamese side were Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Van Trung and many embassy officials and Vietnamese expatriates in New Zealand.

Nearly 50 years after establishing diplomatic relations, Vietnam-New Zealand relations have continuously developed, upgraded to a Strategic Partnership since July 2020. The two countries maintain exchanges of high-level delegations at all levels.

Vietnam is currently New Zealand's 14th largest trading partner. Two-way trade turnover in 2023 is expected to reach US$1.3 billion.

By November 2023, New Zealand had 52 investment projects with a total capital of 208.35 million USD, ranking 39th out of 143 countries and territories with foreign direct investment in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese community in New Zealand has about 11,000 people, mainly living in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

During his visit to New Zealand, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is expected to meet and hold talks with senior leaders of New Zealand; attend seminars and work with leaders of leading associations and businesses of New Zealand; visit and work with New Zealand science, technology and education organizations and meet the Vietnamese community in New Zealand.

During the visit, the two sides will discuss measures to further promote bilateral cooperation, including promoting key and traditional areas of cooperation such as trade and investment, especially cooperation in labor, education and training, and agriculture./.

According to VNA

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