Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse arrived in Auckland international airport on March 12 afternoon (local time) to begin an official visit to New Zealand.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (second from left) and his spouse (first from left) were welcomed at the Auckland international airport 

They were accompanied by a high-level Vietnamese delegation.

They were welcomed by New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews and Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Viet Dung, among others.

As scheduled, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Andern will chair an official ceremony to welcome Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse on March 13. 

Afterwards, PM Phuc will have bilateral meetings with leaders from New Zealand and Auckland city in particular. He is due to meet with the Vietnamese community in the host country.

The PM will attend the Vietnam-New Zealand business forum, receive some New Zealand’s big businesses, and visit several local research facilities.

The Vietnamese PM will also make an official visit to Australia and attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney from March 14-18 at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

PM Phuc is accompanied by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister  Pham Binh Minh, National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Trade and Industry Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, and head of the National Assembly Ombudsman Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai, among others. 

Vietnam and New Zealand set up diplomatic relations in 1975. Vietnam is New Zealand’s 16th largest trade partner with the two-way trade hitting about 1.2 billion USD in 2017. The two nations aim to raise bilateral trade to 1.7 billion USD by 2020, making economic cooperation a pillar of their relationship.

Meanwhile, Vietnam and Australia have celebrated the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties early this year.

The two nations are enjoying sound bilateral trade with average annual growth standing at 12.5 percent and trade value hitting over 9 billion USD in 2017. Australia has landed 378 projects valued at 1.7 billion USD in Vietnam, focusing on industry and construction, services, education, processing industry and agro-forestry-fisheries sector.

Vietnam and Australia are expected to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership during Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit.-

Auckland is the biggest city of New Zealand with cultural diversity. In 2017, close to 29,000 New Zealand tourists arrived in Vietnam for studying and travelling.

VNA