Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and New Zealander Minister of Trade Todd McClay ink an agreement on economic and trade cooperation in Wellington, New Zealand, March 11, 2024. Photo: VGP

On March 11 in Wellington, New Zealand, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade and New Zealander Minister of Trade Todd McClay signed an agreement on economic and trade cooperation.

The signed agreement will strengthen the legal basis to promote specific cooperation activities in the fields of economics and trade between the two countries in the coming time, especially towards the target of a turnover of US$2 billion in 2024.

With the contents agreed upon under the above agreement, the two sides will create favorable conditions for the private sector, especially SME enterprises, to cooperate in business, and exchange experiences.

The two countries promote bilateral trade exchange, including market opening activities, trade promotion, and trade defense cooperation.

Vietnam and New Zealand cooperate and take advantage of free trade agreements, and multilateral cooperation frameworks of which the two countries are members.

The agreement was signed on the occasion of the Prime Minister of Vietnam's official visit to New Zealand.

It not only promotes bilateral trade relations between the two countries, but also contributes to the success of the visit as well as deepening the Vietnam-New Zealand strategic partnership.

Within the framework of the visit, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien attended a meeting between the Prime Minister, representatives of typical associations and businesses in New Zealand on March 10.

In 2023, the total two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and New Zealand reached US$1.3 billion , down about 6% compared to 2022.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien shared about the prospects of economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and New Zealand.

He provided information about the environment and Vietnam's policies for areas of interest to New Zealand businesses such as trade, energy, science and technology.

Currently, Vietnam is New Zealand's 14th largest trading partner, accounting for 1.7% of New Zealand's total import-export turnover.

Vietnam is the 13th largest exporter to the New Zealand market, accounting for 1.3% of New Zealand's import market share, and the 17th largest importer of New Zealand, accounting for 1.4% of this country's export market share.

Meanwhile, New Zealand is Vietnam's 38th trading partner.

New Zealand has 52 valid projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of more than US$208 million, ranking 39th out of 143 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation.

In 2022, the total two-way trade turnover reached US$1.4 billion, an increase of about 5.7% compared to 2021. In 2023, it reached US$1.3 billion, a decrease of about 6% compared to 2022.

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