Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon announced a new NZ$6.24 million (US$3.84 million) investment to support Vietnam in developing its passionfruit project in a press release jointly issued with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh on Monday.

The funding will be used to implement phase three of the Vietnam Climate Smart Fruit Value Chain (Vietfruit) project, which is a partnership between Vietnam and the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research to promote the passion fruit industry in the Southeast Asian country.

Both sides had earlier reaped fruitful outcomes in their similar project on dragon fruits.

The two PMs in their joint press release reaffirmed that the close friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and New Zealand have been increasingly intensified thanks to people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in multiple fields such as politics-diplomacy, economy-trade-investment, education, labor affairs, science, and technology.

PM Luxon asserted that Vietnam remains among the most important partners of New Zealand in Southeast Asia, is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and is the 14th-largest trade partner of New Zealand.

The two government leaders discussed measures to raise bilateral trade to $3 billion by 2026.

To fulfill this target, they underlined the need to beef up education and tourism cooperation, remove non-tariff barriers, organize more trade promotion events, and fully implement the existing free trade agreements.

They also endorsed a strategic cooperation plan on Vietnam-New Zealand education during the 2023-26 period.

The plan is expected to enable universities of the two countries to establish cooperation.

It is also intended to set up alumni networks and help Vietnam improve its education model via digital tools.

The New Zealand government pledged to bolster international education and diversify its international education markets, PM Luxon said.

The two cabinet leaders discussed opportunities to encourage more Vietnamese students to apply to prestigious universities in New Zealand.

Hailing cooperation efforts in other fields, the two PMs agreed to host a bilateral Oceans Dialogue for the first time in 2024 on international law, maritime governance, and conservation.

They believed that the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-New Zealand diplomatic ties will allow both sides to expand cooperation in several fields of mutual concern such as green economy, climate change, digital transformation, and hi-tech agriculture.

PM Chinh expressed his contentment over the positive outcomes of the Vietnam-New Zealand strategic partnership’s action plan in the 2021-24 period, suggesting that both sides facilitate high-level delegation exchanges and actively implement existing cooperation mechanisms to pave the way for the elevation of their relations in the near future.

During the meeting, PM Luxon accepted the invitation from his Vietnamese counterpart to make an official visit to Vietnam at a suitable time.

In related news, PM Chinh on Monday gave a speech at Victoria University of Wellington, which hosts the largest number of Vietnamese students in New Zealand.

PM Chinh remarked that Vietnam looks to elevate its strategic partnership with New Zealand to a new high through his official visit, which took place from Sunday to Monday this week.

He also offered several suggestions to further develop the Vietnam-New Zealand bilateral relations.

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