New Zealand has always been a friend and trusted partner of Viet Nam, supporting the country in human resources training and providing ODA funding in various areas, including agriculture, climate change response, disaster recovery, and education.

New Zealand and Viet Nam are connected not only by the vast ocean between them, but also by a shared belief in a stable, peaceful, and prosperous region. In an increasingly volatile world the two countries need to strengthen cooperation even further.

The elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2025 has opened up opportunities to deepen cooperation across fields, making bilateral ties more substantive and closer while bringing more practical benefits to the peoples of both countries.

The visit by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation marks an important milestone in strengthening bilateral relations over more than half a century.

Cooperation between the two countries is entirely natural, stemming from the interests of their peoples, the development needs of both countries, and their responsibility for peace and stability in the region and the world.

Relations between the two countries are reflected not only in trade turnover and cooperation in education and training, but also in shared views on many international and regional issues.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam highly appreciated the contributions made by the New Zealand Parliament to New Zealand’s development in recent years and thanked the New Zealand Parliament for its coordination in promoting parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam expressed his satisfaction at the increasingly effective and substantive development of bilateral relations, with parliamentary cooperation making a very positive contribution to the overall achievements in bilateral ties. He proposed that the two sides increase exchanges of delegations at all levels and through Party, State, Government, and parliamentary channels, particularly among specialised parliamentary bodies, to enhance mutual understanding, exchanges, and experience sharing. The Party General Secretary and State President expressed his hope that the New Zealand Parliament would continue to support the implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements and create a favourable legal framework to promote cooperation in areas where Viet Nam has needs and New Zealand has strengths.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said education, tourism, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges are important drivers of bilateral relations. He thanked New Zealand for supporting Viet Nam in training students and officials to study English and disciplines in which New Zealand has strengths. Appreciating New Zealand’s education system, with its world-class research centres and universities, the Party General Secretary and State President said New Zealand could assist Viet Nam in education reform and in the process of making English a second language in Viet Nam.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam asked the New Zealand Parliament to pay attention to and facilitate the Vietnamese community living, studying, and doing business in New Zealand so they can contribute to New Zealand’s socio-economic development as well as bilateral relations.

At the Viet Nam-New Zealand Business Roundtable, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam called on the business communities of both countries to upgrade agricultural and food cooperation along green value chains, with the two sides jointly creating new growth drivers based on science and technology, innovation, and green transition. Viet Nam is ready to serve as a gateway for New Zealand businesses to expand investment in ASEAN, while New Zealand can also serve as a bridge for Vietnamese businesses to participate more deeply in high-quality value chains in the Pacific region.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said these orientations would only be meaningful if translated into action. The two governments have a responsibility to create a favourable environment, remove barriers, and ensure the legitimate rights and interests of businesses. Viet Nam is committed to continuing to improve its investment environment towards greater stability, transparency, and competitiveness in line with international standards, while creating favourable conditions for New Zealand businesses to make long-term and effective investments, particularly in high-tech agriculture, the food industry, education, science, technology, innovation, and the green economy.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam noted that the documents signed on this occasion represented initial results. More importantly, each document should soon be translated into specific programmes, projects and tangible outcomes. He called on agencies, associations and businesses from both countries to enhance coordination, develop clear roadmaps and regularly review implementation. The success of Viet Nam-New Zealand economic cooperation will not be measured solely by trade turnover or the number of projects, but by the quality of connectivity, technological content, level of participation in emerging value chains, and tangible benefits delivered to businesses and people in both countries.

Speaking at the forum, themed “Building a shared future: Talent, innovation and skills for the future”, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said that both Viet Nam and New Zealand attach importance to education, promote innovation, pursue green growth and sustainable development, respect international law and place people at the centre of development policies. To make higher and vocational education cooperation between Viet Nam and New Zealand more substantive in the coming period, the Party General Secretary and State President called on the two sides to jointly develop high-quality human resources for the digital, green, circular and knowledge-based economies; and prioritise areas with high demand and strong complementarity, such as artificial intelligence, data science, digital technology and cybersecurity.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam expressed his wish that the two sides would continue to expand exchanges among students, lecturers, scientists, experts and education administrators. Each lecturer, scientist and pupil or student is an ambassador of knowledge and friendship, contributing to deepening, strengthening and broadening ties between the two countries.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam called on management agencies, universities, vocational education institutions, research institutes and businesses from both countries to identify priority areas, develop joint projects capable of generating impact, and maintain regular channels of dialogue so that the commitments made today would soon translate into tangible results.

As part of his State visit to New Zealand, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam received Steven Joyce, Acting Chair of the New Zealand-Viet Nam Friendship Association, and several prominent members of the association.

At the meeting, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam highly appreciated and acknowledged the positive contributions, dedication and commitment of the association’s leaders and members to promoting Viet Nam-New Zealand relations in recent years, particularly in education, the economy, agriculture, and science and technology. The association’s activities have not only helped spread friendship between the two countries among New Zealanders and the Vietnamese-New Zealand community, but have also contributed to strengthening the solid social foundation of bilateral relations. Referring to bilateral ties, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam affirmed that, after more than 50 years of diplomatic relations, Viet Nam-New Zealand ties have made strong and comprehensive progress and are becoming increasingly substantive. In particular, the elevation of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2025 opened a new phase of development, creating fresh momentum for cooperation in politics, foreign affairs, defence, security, the economy, culture, education, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said that Viet Nam is planning to establish the Viet Nam-New Zealand Friendship Association as a partner of the New Zealand-Viet Nam Friendship Association, thereby strengthening connections and exchanges and helping make the friendship between the peoples of the two countries increasingly deep and substantive. Assessing the potential for bilateral cooperation as still very substantial, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam expressed his wish that the association would continue to serve as a bridge and make positive contributions to promoting bilateral relations; continue to regard education and training as a key area of cooperation, while promoting collaboration in science and technology, climate change response, the economy, green agriculture and clean agriculture. Party General Secretary and State President To Lam also hoped that the association would continue to pay attention to and support the Vietnamese community in New Zealand, creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese people there to stabilise their lives, work, integrate well and make positive contributions to their host country and homeland.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation met with officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy, the Vietnamese community in New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries.

Speaking at the meeting, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said that the Politburo had recently issued a new resolution on work concerning Vietnamese people overseas, emphasising that the Vietnamese community abroad is not only an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation, but also a strategic resource for national development.

Extending his warm greetings to the Vietnamese community in New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries, the Party General Secretary and State President acknowledged and praised the Vietnamese community and Vietnamese associations and organisations in New Zealand for their many meaningful and commendable activities. He said that they are ambassadors helping to promote a positive image of Viet Nam among international friends, and expressed his hope that they would continue to strengthen solidarity, work together to build an increasingly strong and prosperous community, uphold national pride, preserve and promote the traditional cultural identity of their homeland, and continue making practical contributions to the development of the homeland. The community should remain united and closely connected, support and help one another to develop economically, improve their quality of life and maintain ties with their homeland, while actively contributing and becoming an important factor in promoting the positive relations between Viet Nam and New Zealand.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro jointly visited an exhibition of works by renowned photographer of Maori Fiona Pardington at the contemporary art gallery Starkwhite.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s State visit to New Zealand received considerable attention from the local media. Articles highlighted that Viet Nam-New Zealand relations are moving decisively from high-level political commitments towards specific cooperation programmes, with a focus on trade, investment, education, agriculture, science and technology, defence and security, and climate change response. Coverage in the local media showed that New Zealand viewed the outcomes of the visit as having significance not only for bilateral relations but also in directly opening up new opportunities for export businesses, strengthening educational and security links, and supporting farmers and healthcare professionals.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam’s State visits to Australia and New Zealand were highly successful, contributing significantly to strengthening political trust and generating fresh momentum for elevating relations with both Australia and New Zealand. The visits marked an important milestone in Viet Nam’s external relations, contributing to the implementation of the foreign policy set out by the 14th National Party Congress, affirming Viet Nam’s consistent policy of multilateralising and diversifying its foreign relations, consolidating a favourable external environment, expanding the space for cooperation, and enhancing Viet Nam’s role and position in the region.

Published: August 2026
Produced by: Chu Hong Thang, Truong Son, Minh Hang, Nguyen Ha, Hoang Ha
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and VNA