At the meeting, the two sides agreed to continue working closely together, aiming to facilitate trade and investment and create favourable conditions for farm produce to access each other’s markets.

They also reached a consensus on strengthening their coordination in tourism, trade and investment promotion activities, as well as cooperation in the priority spheres of high-tech agriculture, the trade of agricultural products, human resource training, tourism and e-government.

Vietnam called for New Zealand’s support in improving its capabilities with regards to food safety, aviation, disaster and climate change adaptation, and e-government, as well as in helping its localities to develop farm produce value chains for fruit, pepper, coffee and cashew nuts, build trademarks, and develop the systems of origin traceability, technology transfer in production, and agricultural and seafood processing.

The New Zealand side discussed opportunities to enhance their collaboration in the trade and service areas of its strength, such as aviation, tourism and educational services, asking Vietnam to create favourable conditions for New Zealand firms’ investment activities in education and tourism, as well as for food safety cooperation between the two countries.

An overview of the meeting. (Photo: MOIT)

Regarding their bilateral cooperation within the multilateral frameworks, the two sides pledged continuous coordination and mutual support in the cooperation mechanisms and frameworks, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

In the past few years, New Zealand has been one of Vietnam’s important partners in terms of trade, while Vietnam is currently the 16th largest trading partner of New Zealand. According to customs statistics, two-way trade reached approximately US$906 million in 2017, up 26.6% against 2016. In the first nine months of 2018, trade revenues between the two countries hit US$779 million, an increase of 10.8% over the same period of last year.

New Zealand currently has 32 valid FDI projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US$102.8 million, ranking 45th of the 128 countries and territories making foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam is operating eight investment projects in New Zealand with a total registered capital of US$30 million, focusing on the fields of manufacturing, wholesale and retail, automotive and motor repairs, accommodation and catering services, and agriculture.