Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong chaired a meeting in Hanoi on June 29 with Vietnamese enterprises to take stock of their cooperation with Australia and New Zealand and gather input before upcoming high-level diplomatic engagements.

Attending the meeting were officials from the ministries of finance; industry and trade; and culture, sports and tourism, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), local authorities, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoF) units.

Attendees also included representatives of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA), the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, alongside top corporations and firms operating in information technology, energy, mining, hi-tech agriculture, finance, tourism, aviation, and services. Vietnamese diplomatic agencies in Australia and New Zealand also joined the meeting virtually.

In his speech, Cuong stressed that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships with both countries are gaining speed, calling bilateral ties increasingly substantive and effective. He flagged sizable room to expand collaboration in education-training, hi-tech agriculture, clean energy, strategic minerals, digital transformation, innovation, and sci-tech, thus pooling resources for Vietnam's growth ambitions.

He urged business executives to table new cooperation ideas and push forward existing agreements, reaffirming that the MoF stands ready to work with other ministries and agencies to facilitate cooperation and connect enterprises with Australian and New Zealand counterparts.

Representatives of ministries, agencies, business associations, and enterprises noted that while Australia and New Zealand maintain exacting standards, they also offer promising opportunities. They pressed for more market insight, business matchmaking, streamlined trade and customs procedures, harmonised technical norms, and wider cooperation in digital transformation, innovation, workforce upskilling, and supply chain development.

Cuong credited Vietnamese firms with broadening investment links in both markets and asked them to pin down their cooperation needs so the MoF, alongside other agencies and overseas representative missions, can provide more targeted support. He said the ministry will keep acting as a bridge, putting economic and sci-tech diplomacy at the centre to enlarge markets, attract high-quality resources, accelerate technology transfer, and spur innovation./.