Marking the first-ever visit to New Zealand by a Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President, General Secretary and President To Lam’s trip is of historic significance to bilateral relations. It offers a valuable opportunity for the two countries’ leaders to look back on more than half a century of steadfast partnership and cooperation, discuss concrete measures to advance the Viet Nam-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and write a new chapter in bilateral ties in new heights and with greater strategic depth.
This is also General Secretary and President To Lam’s first visit to New Zealand following the successful 14th National Party Congress and the consolidation of key leadership positions following the elections to the 16th National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels for the 2026-2031 term.
The visit firmly reaffirms the high priority Viet Nam attaches to advancing relations with New Zealand — a friendly and trusted partner in the South Pacific with considerable potential for cooperation — while also helping strengthen the personal ties between General Secretary and President To Lam and New Zealand leaders. The enduring Viet Nam-New Zealand relationship, which has stood the test of time, provides a solid foundation and fresh momentum for Viet Nam as it moves confidently into a new era of development.
Despite their geographical distance, Viet Nam and New Zealand are close and sincere friends and partners that share a commitment to peace and sustainable development. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1975. The seeds of friendship planted more than half a century ago have since grown into a flourishing relationship.
Over the past five decades, the two countries have made significant strides in their journey of friendship and cooperation. A major milestone came in 2025, when they elevated bilateral relation to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Political trust between Viet Nam and New Zealand has continued to deepen through regular high-level exchanges.
The two countries have maintained close cooperation at regional and international forums, particularly the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, ASEAN, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Cooperation between Viet Nam and New Zealand has made significant strides. As two highly complementary economies, the two countries have achieved encouraging results in bilateral trade and investment. Viet Nam is New Zealand’s 12th-largest trading partner. Their trade structures are highly complementary, with exports from the two countries largely avoiding direct competition.
In 2025, two-way trade reached 1.5 billion USD, up 15.8% year on year. The two sides are actively advancing the five pillars of the Action Programme for implementing the Viet Nam-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 2025-2030 period, with the goal of raising bilateral trade to 3 billion USD at an early date. In terms of investment, as of June 30, 2026, New Zealand had 61 valid investment projects in Viet Nam with total registered capital of 191 million USD. Viet Nam, meanwhile, had invested in 13 projects in New Zealand with combined capital of 44.5 million USD.
New Zealand is also one of Viet Nam’s leading development partners providing official development assistance (ODA), primarily through programmes on knowledge transfer, capacity building, transport infrastructure development and disaster management. New Zealand has maintained a stable and gradually increasing flow of ODA to Viet Nam, averaging around 16 million USD annually over the past four to five years. New Zealand-funded ODA projects have delivered tangible benefits and proved highly effective in addressing Viet Nam’s development needs.
Education stands out as a bright spot in bilateral relations, with around 2,000 Vietnamese students currently studying in New Zealand, making Viet Nam the fifth-largest source of international students in the country. New Zealand was also among the early partners to provide English-language training for Viet Nam’s future officials. Its scholarship programmes have helped generations of Vietnamese officials enhance their professional capacity, contributing effectively to the country’s development and international integration. Cooperation in other fields, including defence and security, agriculture, and transport, has also received growing attention and yielded positive results.
Viet Nam and New Zealand are both active members of numerous important regional and international organisations and forums. The two countries support each other and coordinate closely in implementing the CPTPP and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). New Zealand is a Comprehensive Strategic Partner of ASEAN and regards Southeast Asia as a priority in its regional policy, with Viet Nam considered one of its key partners. Most recently, New Zealand supported Viet Nam’s candidate for a judgeship at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the 2026-2035 term.
General Secretary and President To Lam’s State visit to New Zealand aims to further advance Viet Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, resilience, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, with particular importance attached to ties with New Zealand and the South Pacific region.
The visit also conveys a strong message that, as Viet Nam continues its renewal and strives for breakthroughs to realise its development aspirations in a new era, the country looks forward to continued comprehensive and substantive support and partnership from international friends, particularly its Comprehensive Strategic Partners, including New Zealand.
