Emeritus Professor Roberto Rabel at the Centre for Strategic Studies under the Victoria University of Wellington. (Photo: VNA)Prof. Rabel made the comment in an interview granted tothe Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent ahead of National Assembly ChairmanVuong Dinh Hue’s official visit to New Zealand from December 3-7 at theinvitation of Speakerof the House of Representatives Adrian Rurawhe.
According to the professor, thereare already many areas in which New Zealand and Vietnam are cooperatingactively such as trade, investment, capacity-building and education. Thereremains scope, however, to lift the scope and depth of cooperation in all thoseareas and others. A key way of doing this would be for the two sides to do moreto identify and focus on the most "strategic" goals of their partnershipand then to institutionalise mechanisms (and resources) for advancing thosegoals.
Thedevelopment of the strategic partnership can also be enhanced by drawing moreexplicitly on the reservoir of good will that has been created by the growingpeople-to-people links that have developed over the past few decades,especially through the thousands of Vietnamese students and officials who havehad educational and training experiences in New Zealand, he said.
Prof. Rabel said that followingclosely on New Zealand PrimeMinister Ardern's successful trip to Vietnam, Chairman Hue's visit serves as anaffirmation of the strong partnership between the two countries and thepotential for even greater cooperation. It is especially significant that Chairman Hue leads the VietnameseNational Assembly, because his visit offers an opportunity to forge closerlinks between the two legislatures and to compare notes about how they work toensure public accountability for the actions of government in both countries.The broadening of mutual understanding that flows from such visits isinvaluable for the deepening of the bilateral relationship. It would beespecially useful if the visit leads to more regular exchanges of views betweenthe two legislatures and identifies possible ways in which New Zealand canassist Vietnam's development, through specific training programmes in Englishfor National Assembly members and their support staff (building on educationand training programmes provided for officials in the past). It would also bedesirable for Chairman Hue's visit to be followed up by a visit to Vietnam by aNew Zealand parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of the House.
Prof. Rabel noted that NewZealand and Vietnam are already constructive contributors to regional peace andprosperity. In addition to their bilateral relationship, they can best enhancetheir contributions by working together in multilateral settings to strengthenregional economic, political and security architecture-such as through theCPTPP and the numerous ASEAN-led regional fora such as the East Asia Summit.Above all, both countries share a commitment to a rules-based regional orderwhich allows for peaceful interaction between a diversity of states and enablesall those diverse voices to be heard rather than just those of the mostpowerful states. Ensuring that a rules-based order prevails in the regionrequires upholding the importance of ASEAN "centrality" as a focalpoint for bringing together all states in the region in an inclusive way.
Throughreciprocal visits such as those by Prime Minister Ardern and Chairman Hue, Vietnam and New Zealand can exchange views on how to cooperate more effectively both inbilateral and regional settings in ways which build on our mutual interests inmaintaining regional peace and prosperity, while respecting each other'sindependent foreign policies, he stressed./.
VNA
