The article quoted Chairman of the Digital Council for Aotearoa, member of the Asia Society’sGlobal Council, and Director of the Augen Software Group, Mitchell Pham as sayingthat lifting the relationship to “strategic partnership”is an exciting step forward and hopefully means that the two governments will beworking much more closely on opportunities for both countries to benefit andthat the horizon will also extend beyond just trading with each other.
“Doing business and travelling regularly betweenboth countries, I get to be ‘in the relationship zone’ and observe it at groundlevel,” he said. “I feel a palpably positive vibe and a high level of interest betweenthe two countries. I see visitors, I see trade, I see links between people who arevery interested in each other’s history, culture, language, cuisine, fashion, andultimately business opportunities.”
Regarding the Plan of Action for the StrategicPartnership over the next 12 months, Pham said he hopes to see the two governmentsestablish an environment and ecosystem for the two countries’ industry, business,and community to cooperate.
Meanwhile, Chairman and CEO of KPMG inVietnam and Chairman of the NZ Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, Warrick Cleine, said themove represents a step-change in the relationship between the two countries. NewZealand enjoys a wonderful reputation in Vietnam, both at the official and societallevels.
Thishas been built over decades of constructive engagement, and two-way trade has increasedsignificantly over the years, he said, adding that the timing of the announcementcould not be better. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, both New Zealandand Vietnam are rare bright spots, having managed the health crisis and preventedany meaningful community spread of the virus while limiting the impact on theireconomies.
New Zealand needs to build export markets in orderto maintain its economic performance, he said, and relatively vibrant economiessuch as Vietnam are especially important.
“Geopolitics and diversification of supply chainsare increasingly relevant post-COVID,” he added. “New Zealand’s exporters and importersmust understand and respond to these trends, as they will impact our ability tomanage risks going forward and how we are perceived globally. This is an issue thatboth New Zealand and Vietnam - as small trading nations - have in common. They bothneed to protect and participate in a rules-based trading system and to diversifyboth export and import markets.”/.