The conference for trade and investment promotion with NewZealand was hosted by the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City(ITPC) in collaboration with the Consulate General in the southern city.
Since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1975,the bilateral relations have constantly grown in all areas, from politics,economics, trade, investment, to defence-security, education and tourism, saidTran Phu Lu, ITPC Deputy Director. Trade and economic cooperation between thetwo countries have particularly seen strong and stable growth, he added.
The two nations lifted their relations to strategicpartnership in 2020 and sets to raise two-way trade to 2 billion USD this year.
Despite impacts of COVID-19, bilateral trade hasmaintained modest growth over the last two years, with Vietnam mainly exportingto New Zealand phones and components, computers, electronics and parts,footwear and others while milk and dairy products accounted for the largestshare of New Zealand’s imports from Vietnam, Lu said.
He further noted that New Zealand is operating 42 FDIprojects in Vietnam with total registered investment reaching about 209.5million USD, mostly poured in real estate, education, manufacturing andprocessing. Of the number, 26 projects, worth 82.8 million USD, are located inHCM City.
Both Vietnam and New Zealand are active signatories to new-generationFree Trade Agreements, notably the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) which has brought them many opportunities for partnership,Lu continued.
Taking advantage of opportunities presented by new valuechains within ASEAN and New Zealand will help Vietnamese enterprises to broadenits markets, fuel exports and join new supply chains in the region, he added./.