National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan

The two leaders said that the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and New Zealand co-chaired the online high-level talks one week ago, announcing the upgrading of bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relations ties on June 19. They described the event as opening a new chapter and creating a new framework and impetus for deepening bilateral cooperation.

Chairwoman Ngan expressed her desire to continue promoting the economic, trade, and investment relations, saying Vietnam-New Zeeland relationship has achieved good results. The Vietnamese National Assembly will continue to work closely with the New Zealand counterpart to realize the Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership, in which the two sides pledged to increase bilateral exchanges and contacts and strengthen cooperation in multilateral parliamentary forums.

Chairwoman Ngan affirmed that the policy of ASEAN and Vietnam is to resolve disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means, in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. She said that maintaining a peaceful and stable environment and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight is the common interest and responsibility of all countries. The Chairwoman called on New Zealand to continue supporting the position of ASEAN and Vietnam in this regard.