State President Nguyen Minh Triet is due to pay a State visit to New Zealand from September 10-12 at the invitation of Governor-General Anand Satyanand and Prime Minister Helen Clark.

This will be the first State visit to New Zealand by the Vietnamese State President since both countries established diplomatic ties on June 19,1975.

In terms of external policies, New Zealand has promoted integration in Asia and treasured relations with ASEAN member countries through a series of activities at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Remarkable progress has been made in Vietnam-New Zealand relations since the early 1990s. The exchange of visits by leaders has helped promote mutual understanding, strengthened the friendship and created favourable conditions for both countries to build a framework for bilateral cooperation in various fields. 

During former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s visit to New Zealand in May, 2005, the two countries signed a declaration on Vietnam-New Zealand cooperation which affirmed their determination to establish a long-term comprehensive, and stable partnership in the new decade.

In recent years, two-way trade turnover has seen a gradual increase but remains at a modest level. Total trade turnover increased from US$1.662 million in 2005 to US$198 million in 2006. Over the past five months, the figure hit nearly US$100 million but Vietnam is always in export surplus.

New Zealand exports butter and milk (70-80 percent), leather, feathers, wood ships, chemicals and animal feed to Vietnam while importing footwear (30 percent), home decoration products (19 percent), ceramic and porcelain products, garments, textiles and cashew nuts from the country.

By July 2007, New Zealand had invested in 13 projects in Vietnam worth US$35 million (ranking 42 out of 74 countries and territories investing in Vietnam). The focus was on wood processing, nickel ore exploitation, beverages, milk, cement, bamboo, construction and hotels.

New Zealand officially began providing non-refundable aid to Vietnam in 1994. The aid increased from NZ$3.06 million in 2004-2005 to NZ$4.7 million in 2005-2006 and NZ$6.7 million in 2006-2007 to help promote human resource training, agricultural production and rural development, healthcare and State management. Some New Zealand funded projects were on a small scale but of high economic efficiency.

So far, the two countries have signed many important co-operative documents, including a Trade and Economic Co-operative Agreement, an Investment Encouragement and Protection Agreement and an Aviation Agreement, creating a legal framework for the two countries to co-operate in these fields.

By December 2006, around 1,500 Vietnamese students are studying at New Zealand universities. Many New Zealand universities such as Victoria University and Auckland University of Technology have established co-operative ties with Vietnamese universities, including Hanoi Polytechnic University, Quy Nhon University and Ho Chi Minh City National University.

The number of New Zealand tourists to Vietnam rose from 10,489 in 2004 to 14,162 in 2006.

New Zealand shared experiences with Vietnam in integration and helped organize the APEC summit in 2006. The country supported Vietnam’s joining the World Trade Organisation and running for non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term.