Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse were welcomed at the Auckland international airport (Photo: VNA)Auckland (VNA) – Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc and his spouse arrived in Auckland international airport on March 12afternoon (local time) to begin an official visit to New Zealand.
They were accompanied by a high-level Vietnamese delegation.
They were welcomed by New Zealand Ambassador toVietnam Wendy Matthews and Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen VietDung, among others.
[PM’s visit to be driving force for Vietnam-New Zealand ties: diplomat]
As scheduled, New Zealand Prime Minister JacindaAndern will chair an official ceremony to welcome Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc and his spouse on March 13.
Afterwards, PM Phuc will have bilateral meetingswith leaders from New Zealand and Auckland city in particular. He is due tomeet with the Vietnamese community in the host country.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (second from left) and his spouse (first from left) were welcomed at the airport (Photo: VNA)The PM will attend the Vietnam-New Zealandbusiness forum, receive some New Zealand’s big businesses, and visit severallocal research facilities.
The cooperation between Vietnam and New Zealand has developedrapidly and strongly in recent years since the establishment of bilateraldiplomatic ties in 1975.
The two sides issued a joint statement agreeingto strengthen and deepen the bilateral comprehensive partnership and looktoward to strategic partnership.
Two-way trade has increased through years withan average level of around 20 percent per year. In 2016, the bilateral tradereached approximately 707 million USD. At present, nearly 3,000 Vietnamesestudents are studying in New Zealand.
Auckland is the biggest city of New Zealand withcultural diversity. In 2017, close to 29,000 New Zealand tourists arrived inVietnam for studying and travelling.-VNA
