PM's visit to New Zealand expected to take bilateral ties to new heights
(VNA) - The first ever official visit to New Zealand by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai of Viet Nam from May 8-11 is expected to help broaden co-operative ties between the two countries.
Since Viet Nam and New Zealand established diplomatic ties on June 19, 1975, the bilateral relationship has enjoyed fruitful development.
Many New Zealander leaders, including Prime Minister Helen Clark, were among those who took to the street to protest against the war in Viet Nam.
In 1995, New Zealand opened its embassy in Ha Noi. Eight years later, Viet Nam set up its embassy in Wellington.
The New Zealand-Viet Nam Friendship Association was founded in Wellington on Dec. 20, 2004.
Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet visited the south Pacific nation in May 1993. During Party General Secretary Do Muoi's visit to New Zealand in July 1995, the two countries signed a bilateral cooperation agreement on transportation of containers. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Auckland, New Zealand, in September 1999. National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An visited New Zealand in July 2004.
Prime Minister James Bolger of New Zealand visited Viet Nam in November 1995, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mc Kinnon in July 1994 and July 2001. Helen Clark visited Viet Nam for the first time in her capacity as New Zealand's opposition party leader in 1999. During Prime Minister Helen Clark's visit to Viet Nam in October 2003, the two countries signed a bilateral aviation agreement, which also covers the future opening of direct flights between the two countries. Speaker of New Zealand's House of Representatives Jonathan Hunt paid a visit to Viet Nam in April 2000.
New Zealand ranks the 33rd among foreign trade partners of Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Viet Nam is placed the 31st among countries conducting trade ties with New Zealand. Two-way trade rose from almost 94 million USD in 2002, to 114 million USD in 2003 and 156 million USD in 2004. Viet Nam's main staples exported to New Zealand include seafood, coffee, garments, footwear, woodwork, porcelain, handicrafts. It imports milk and butter, leather, fleece, pulp, chemicals, and animal feeds from New Zealand.
The two countries signed an economic and commerical co-operation agreement on July 18, 1994.
By July 2004, New Zealand had 19 valid projects totalling around 62 million USD in Viet Nam, ranking the 29th among more than 64 countries and territories investing in the country. New Zealand-invested projects are often small in scale and specialised in construction material production, wood processing, nikel ore mining, telecommunications, handicrafts, hotel development, and milk and beverage production.
On official development assistance (ODA), by June 2004, New Zealand had granted 18.4 million NZD (around 9.2 million USD) in ODA to Viet Nam. New Zealand's aid to Viet Nam rose from 2.7 million NZD in the 2002-03 fiscal year to 3.06 million NZD in the 2003-04 fiscal year. It has also granted Viet Nam 2 million NZD in humanitarian aid through multilateral mechanisms.
New Zealand's aid has been channelled into projects on education and training, agriculture, health care, and State management.
Education and training cooperation between Viet Nam and New Zealand has been thriving. Currently, around 1,000 Vietnamese students are studying in New Zealand with almost all of them studying at their own expenses. In addition universities in the two countries have begun conducting bilateral cooperation programmes.
At present, the number of New Zealand tourists to Viet Nam remains modest with only 10,000 New Zealanders touring the country in 2004.
Vietnamese and New Zealand companies have established co-operative ties in the areas of brewery production, chemical manufacturing, and textiles and garment production. However bilateral cooperation has failed to match its potential.
New Zealand has helped Viet Nam devise a strategy for gas development and building Vietnamese standards for oil and gas.
On the electricity cooperation, experts of the two countries have exchanged fact-finding trips and shared experiences in developing electricity conglomerates and running an electricity market.
The two countries have also discussed the possibility of co-operating in gold mining in Viet Nam's southern Dong Nai and northern Lao Cai provinces.
A number of New Zealand contractors have been involved in a number of projects in Viet Nam, including the construction of the Franco-Viet Nam hospital, the Espace Bourbon An Lac supermarket, the Nam Con Son gas processing plant, and a water park in Ho Chi Minh City.
The New Zealand Government has helped the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction to train urban planners and managers.
The two countries have started bilateral cooperation in the areas of security and defence. In February, 2001, New Zealand assigned a military attache to cover both Thailand and Viet Nam. In 2003, a New Zealand naval ship docked at the Saigon port in Ho Chi Minh City and a delegation from the Artilery Command of the Viet Nam People's Army paid a working visit to New Zealand.
Officers from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security have worked with their New Zealand counterparts to share experiences in preventing and combating crime.
New Zealand has also shared with Viet Nam its experiences on economic integration. The former has provided enthusiastic assistance to Viet Nam's joining the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and supported Viet Nam's bid to become a member of the World Trade Organisation and its participation in international forums.
Pursuing a policy to strengthen ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the New Zealand government has financed a project to provide financial and technical assistance for the establishment of a Mekong basin economic development and cooperation institute designed to train experts for Mekong basin countries, including Viet Nam./.