New Zealand and Vietnam agree to boost trade and investment cooperation

On May 23, the eighth meeting of the Vietnam-New Zealand Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JTEC) took place in Hanoi. The two sides were represented by Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang and New Zealand’s Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Vangelis Vitalis.

Established in 2006, the JTEC is an important cooperation mechanism for promoting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and is held alternately in each nation every two years.

At the meeting, the two sides unanimously felt that economic relations have flourished since the signing of the strategic partnership in 2020 and celebrated the progression of market access for Vietnamese limes and pomelos and New Zealand squash and strawberries, which were agreed to late last year.

Both nations discussed measures to further promote bilateral trade and reduce trade barriers, with the goal of raising the two-way trade turnover to $2 billion by 2024.

In addition, they agreed to continue cooperating closely on market access requests, customs procedures, regional supply chain strengthening, and investment promotion for both countries.

The two parties also agreed to continue coordinating and supporting each other in multilateral cooperation mechanisms and frameworks such as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Currently, Vietnam is the 14^th largest trading partner for New Zealand, and bilateral trade has grown by 59 per cent over the last five years to reach NZD$2.39 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2022.