Welcoming the delegation at the airport were Deputy Secretary of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Grahame Morton; New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Caroline Beresford; Divisional Manager of the South and Southeast Asia Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Susannah Gordon; and Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Phan Minh Giang and his spouse, along with officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy.

Over more than five decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations on June 19, 1975, Vietnam and New Zealand have continuously worked to build a solid foundation for the bilateral ties. The two countries are expanding cooperation in smart agriculture, climate change adaptation and carbon markets in line with Vietnam’s green growth objectives.

New Zealand has also remained an effective development cooperation partner of Vietnam, with focus on areas with long-term impacts, including education, human resources training, high-tech agriculture and climate change response.

General Secretary and President Lam’s state visit to New Zealand affirms Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to the ties with the country - a friendly partner with significant potential and many shared interests with Vietnam in the South Pacific.

The trip is also an important milestone in further advancing the Vietnam-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a stronger, more substantive and effective manner in the new period./.