New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hosted an official welcome ceremony with a 19-gun salute for Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his delegation at the Government House in Auckland city, New Zealand, on March 13.

After the welcome ceremony, the two PMs hold talks, during which they agree on major directions to boost the future Vietnam-New Zealand cooperation in all fields and bring bilateral trade to US$1.7 – 2 billion by 2020.

They agree to jointly implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and advocated the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

PM Phuc meets New Zealand’s Speaker of the House of Representatives Trevor Mallard,

and holds phone talk with New Zealand’s Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy.

Addressing the Vietnam-New Zealand Business Forum in Auckland on March 13 with the presence of more than 300 businesses, PM Phuc advocated boosting cooperation between the two countries in fields of mutual interest such as education-training, organic agriculture, smart agriculture, and infrastructure.

The Government leader visits the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) where he also meets with representatives of Vietnamese people in New Zealand.

The PM receives leaders of some New Zealand groups and leading businesses such as Neil Quigley, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Mat Mowbray, the founder and CEO of Zuru Building and Construction Company and Derek McCormack, Vice Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology (AUT). 

PM Phuc visits the Plant and Food Research of New Zealand.

Meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in New Zealand, the PM underscores that they serve as an important bridge helping to promote bilateral ties between the two countries.

 On March 13, Vietnam and New Zealand issued a Joint Statement on advancing the comprehensive partnership toward the strategic partnership.