Over more than five decades of partnership, Viet Nam and Australia have forged remarkable cooperation across a wide range of fields, including politics, the economy, education, and science and technology. The strong bilateral relationship has serves as a vital foundation for Viet Nam to act as a trusted bridge between Australia and ASEAN.
Australia established a dialogue partnership with ASEAN in 1974. The relationship was advanced to a strategic partnership in 2014 and later to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2021. Australia has consistently supported ASEAN's unity, cohesion, and centrality, while actively supporting the bloc in building the ASEAN Community and advancing cooperation in the Mekong sub-region.
At a recent meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Australia's Minister for International Development, Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs Anne Aly, both sides agreed to maintain close coordination within ASEAN, Mekong cooperation mechanisms, and other regional frameworks, thereby making the Viet Nam–Australia comprehensive strategic partnership more substantive, effective, and sustainable.
New Zealand, another Pacific nation, has cultivated a traditional friendship and strong cooperative relationship with Viet Nam since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1975.
As ASEAN Country Coordinator for ASEAN–New Zealand relations for the 2024–2027 term, Viet Nam has been instrumental in promoting dialogue, strengthening mutual trust, aligning cooperation priorities, and advancing a deeper and more substantive partnership between ASEAN and New Zealand.
In 2025, which marked the 50th anniversary of ASEAN–New Zealand relations, Viet Nam collaborated closely with other ASEAN member states to formulate and adopt the 2026–2030 Plan of Action that sets the direction for the ASEAN–New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership in the years ahead.
During a recent meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters voiced his appreciation for Viet Nam's close coordination in driving the elevation of ASEAN–New Zealand relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and in formulating directions for a new cooperation phase.
Two-way trade between ASEAN and New Zealand sustained robust growth momentum, reaching 13.3 billion USD in 2025. Cooperation in education, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges also remained vibrant. ASEAN welcomed more than 630,000 visitors from New Zealand in 2025 alone.
With a spirit of pioneering, responsibility, and proactiveness, Viet Nam has helped forge stronger links between ASEAN and its partners while further deepening its close friendship and bilateral relations with Australia and New Zealand.
