NZ Ambassador to Vietnam Tredene Dobson (Photo: VGP)The following is the full text of the interview.
1.Dear Your Excellency, couldyou touch on the significance of the upcoming Vietnam official visit by thePrime Minister of New Zealand, the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern? What doesPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit this time aim to promote in therelationship between the two countries?
PrimeMinister Ardern’s visit is yet another demonstration of the thriving relationship between NZ and Viet Nam, and its importance to bothcountries. Along with the visit to New Zealand of Viet Nam’s Minister of ForeignAffairs Bui Thanh Son, one month after New Zealand removed COVID-19 borderrestrictions, it shows that both countries are committed to maximising theopportunities that were created when they agreed to upgrade the relationship toa Strategic Partnership in 2020.
TheStrategic Partnership was itself built upon comprehensive cooperation andachievements in various areas, including trade andeconomic, agriculture, education, defence and security, development andpeople-to-people links. The visit is an important opportunityfor Prime Minister Ardern to reaffirm and build on this strong foundation.
As bothcountries emerge from the impacts of COVID-19, the visit is also an importantopportunity to re-connect and recover together. To assist with this, PrimeMinister Ardern is accompanied by the largestbusiness delegation to visit Viet Nam from New Zealand, with top CEOs and managers looking to openup opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation and, we hope, newopportunities for investment in Viet Nam. Vietnam’s emerging and dynamic marketpresents new economic opportunities for many New Zealand businesses, buildingon what is already a significant trade relationship worth over NZ$2.3 billionin two-way trade in the year ending June 2022.
As we recover from COVID-19, the visit is also anopportunity to note both countries are open for tourism growth,having fully reopened up to international travel.
Overall, the visit aims to promote the mutuallybeneficial nature of the relationship, and advance progress in those areas keyareas for cooperation agreed in the Strategic Partnership Framework, and todiscuss some of the challenging issues that are facing our region.
2.What are your expectationsfor this visit? Could you share some impressions on the developments of VietNam-New Zealand bilateral relations in recent years? After 2 years of upgradingto a strategic partnership, in your opinion, what are the highlights that thetwo sides have achieved?
I expect this visit will reaffirm the importance andvalue of the relationship between New Zealand and Viet Nam, especially as bothcountries, and the region, recover from COVID-19. The events that we haveplanned are going to showcase just how strong the relationship is and how it’sdelivering benefit for both countries. One example is the AgriconnectioNZ eventwe have planned which is going to show why Viet Nam and NZ make such naturalpartners in this important sector, and the way the relationship is bringingreal benefit to farmers in both countries. I don’t want to give anything away –but we have a few announcements which I think will make Vietnamese farmers andNZ consumers very happy.
This will be achieved through events that recogniseand build on our bilateral cooperation. This includes official talks betweenboth countries’ top leaders, business dialogues and networking, and events thathighlight our connections in agriculture, education, tourism and sports.
It sounds like a cliché, but it’s 100% true that inrecent years the Viet Nam - New Zealand relationship has gone from strength tostrength. In the trade relationship alone, in the past five years two-way tradein goods has increased 59 percent, reaching 2.39 billion NZD by year-end June 2022, making Viet NamNew Zealand’s 15th largesttrading partner. In this period, Viet Namexported 1.36 billion NZD to New Zealand, while New Zealand exported 1.03billion NZD to Viet Nam. This shows thecomplementary nature of our trading relationship. For example, whereNew Zealand has seen around 18% growth in fresh fruit exports toViet Nam, Viet Nam has grown its machinery exports to New Zealand by morethan 30% over the last year.
Many of the events we have planned are designed toshowcase the opportunities for exporters in both countries, and to introduceViet Nam to New Zealand companies that may be looking for newpartnerships, including for investment purposes.
I think one of the greatest highlights for me over thelast two years is that, despite both countries taking a COVID-19 approach thatdid not allow travel between the two countries, the relationship has continuedto grow in every area. Our people and our businesses, determined to succeed,found ways of working together. Our leaders and Ministers kept up their regularexchanges, albeit virtually. In education, universities and other institutionsworked quickly to create and then deliver virtual learning opportunities aswell as taking the opportunity to prepare Vietnamese students for when theycould travel to New Zealand. Operational and institutional cooperation betweenour security and defence agencies continued, and as officials we lent in andmade sure that every element of the relationship received the support that it neededsupport.
One other area I really want to highlight is ourdevelopment cooperation. During times of crisis is when the most vulnerable aremost impacted. I am so proud that when that moment came, the strongpartnerships and networks we had developed over many years came to the fore. Usingthese connections, New Zealand has invested nearly 2.2 million NZD sinceJune 2020 in support of Viet Nam’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
Last year, one of our most successful joint projectswith Viet Nam came to a conclusion, a project that over 10 years has been apoint of pride for both New Zealand and Viet Nam – commercialising newvarietals of dragon fruit as well as making giant scientific strides in pestmanagement for the fruit. Now we are excited to be applying the expertise andlessons learned to the development of Viet Nam’s passion fruit industry.
Andlastly, I really want to acknowledge how closely our two countries workedtogether on the pandemic response. We shared a lot of knowledge and experienceto support pandemic response policy; we worked closely together regionally,especially through APEC to support supply chain efficiency for vaccines, medicinesand PPE; a NZ company, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare made a private donation toa number of hospitals for the latest technology in airflow to avoid puttingpatients on ventilators; and of course we provided vaccine support through theCOVAX Vaccine facility.
Due to COVID, the past two years have proved challengingfor all countries. However, the Viet Nam – New Zealand StrategicPartnership put our countries in a strong position to continue building on therelationship.
New Zealand business representatives present fruit to children in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VNA)Viet Nam and New Zealand have the advantage of sharingthree major free trade agreements (CPTPP, AANZFTA and RCEP), as well as workingtogether across regional architecture (APEC, ASEAN/EAS and ASEM), and mostrecently the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. These deep bilateral and regionaleconomic connections will ensure the maintenance of supply chains and reducebarriers to international trade.
New Zealand is a free and open market – we know it isin our interests to take advantage of the products, skills and expertiseoffered by our trade partners, especially where they have a competitiveadvantage. And Viet Nam, with its renowned manufacturing capability, offersexactly that. Vietnamese exporters clearly know that. DespiteNew Zealand’s small population of only five million, compared to VietNam’s 98 million, Viet Nam actually enjoys a trade surplus in New Zealand.
I would like to see even more business-to-businesscollaboration happening, and I will be looking at how we can best support thatduring my tenure in Viet Nam. For example, there are good opportunities for NewZealand and Viet Nam to collaborate where we share trade relationships, marketaccess, and trade deals - such as with the European Union. As Viet Nam strivesto move further up the global value chain, New Zealand businesses are also wellpositioned to provide intermediate inputs into Viet Nam’s manufacturingcapacity. So whether its New Zealand timber that is used to manufacturefurniture in Viet Nam before being exported to the European Union, or justVietnamese enterprises looking to broaden their markets, exports, and joiningnew supply chains in the region – our close economic ties, common standards,and our shared vision of free and open economic integration provides a strongplatform for growth.
I would say, based on my experience of workingalongside New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to support New Zealandbusiness in Viet Nam, how important it is to know your consumer market and toadjust accordingly. For example, NZTE’s Made with Care campaign, which wasdeveloped specifically for the Viet Nam market, highlights what’s important forVietnamese consumers, i.e. high quality, safe, nutritious and ethical food andbeverage products. Viet Nam has a trade office in New Zealand and I wouldstrongly recommend Vietnamese businesses interested in the New Zealandmarket, to gett advice from them. They are best placed to give that advice fromthe Vietnamese perspective.
Ifwe collectively begin to realise the enormous potential for New Zealand andVietnamese businesses to increase business collaboration, strengtheninvestment, and grow our complementary trade relationship, we will not onlymeet the target of 2 billion USD (3.2 billion NZD) two-way trade by 2024, wewill exceed it.
4.Will Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit thistime open up new prospects for cooperation between the two countries?
Meetings with all top four leaders of Viet Nam willhelp the two sides continue to build trust, share mutual understanding and reaffirmcommitments, and build on areas of common interest. This will absolutely resultin further cooperation between the two sides. Furthermore, activities between bothcountries’ business delegations, with the presence of PM Jacinda Ardern andpolicy makers from Viet Nam and New Zealand, will help to establish meaningfulconnections, discuss ways to promote bilateral trade, uncover opportunities thatare mutually beneficial, and identify how to capitalise on them.
There are some really great developments, and we’vealso been working hard to refresh prior arrangements so that they can takeaccount of new development and opportunities, but that is for our PrimeMinisters to share.
One area we can expect our leaders to look hard at interms of opportunities for collaboration is climate change. The visit willoccur in the context of COP27 and, following the ambitious commitments made byour two countries at COP26 and previously, there are absolutely opportunitiesto work closer together. We are already making progress in the agriculturesector and I think carbon markets are another area ripe for collaboration.
5.In addition to cooperation ineducation and agriculture, another area that was also mentioned at the Vietnam- New Zealand foreign ministers' meeting in September was cooperation onsecurity - defense. Can you provide more details about cooperation in thisfield in the past and in the future?
Therelationship has seen strong momentum recently in defence and securitycooperation between our two countries. This includes the effectiveimplementation of the New Zealand-Viet Nam Peacekeeping OperationsTraining and Cooperation Implementing Arrangement, and regular high-leveldefence exchanges in both directions, signal our strengthening defencerelations.
We are also working hard to build upon the 2019arrangement between the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam and New ZealandPolice on countering transnational crimes through regular information exchanges,and training programmes on anti-money laundering and anti-human trafficking andsmuggling.
Both sides also cooperate closely in bothbilateral and multilateral mechanisms on maritime security and safety topromote respect for and adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS). Efforts focus on freedom of navigation and overflightin the region in order to promote unimpeded commerce, mutual trust and confidence,and the peaceful resolution of disputes, including disputes in the South ChinaSea, in accordance with international law, particularly UNCLOS, and with fullrespect to the diplomatic and legal process./.
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