President Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Ambassador Tredene Dobson when the latter presents her credential letter on June 16, 2021. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

She made the remarks in an interview with Vietnam News Agency reporters on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties (June 19). She highlighted that the relationship between Vietnam and New Zealand is in great shape and still has more room to grow. Vietnam is New Zealand’s 14th largest trading partner and two-way merchandise trade topped 1.95 billion NZD by March 2021, up 6.9% from the previous year. She also acknowledged the recent strong momentum in defence and security cooperation between two countries. Both countries are committed to working together to counter transnational organised crime by actively exchanging information and through training programmes, including on anti- money laundering.

As both countries look to achieve strong economic growth as part of the COVID19 recovery, Vietnam and New Zealand are expected to leverage some very high-quality free trade agreements (FTAs) that link the two countries to increase trade exchange.