New Zealand–Vietnam relations refers to the relations between

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. New Zealand has an embassy in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

and a consulate-general in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam has an embassy in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

History

Diplomatic ties were established in 1975, with New Zealand being one of the first nations to establish diplomatic ties with the newly unified Vietnam. New Zealand and Vietnam established Comprehensive Partnership in 2008. Since then, there have been a growth in political exchanges, bilateral trade and education links. The two nations celebrated their 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2015. Direct flights between the two nations started in 2016.

Vietnam War and aftermath

New Zealand participated in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. The country sent 3000 military and civilian personnel.

Official visits

In 2013, Vietnamese Minister of Defense General Phung Quang Thanh traveled to New Zealand and met with Defense Minister Jonathan Coleman, and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Murray McCully Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. Early life Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Ar ...

. In November 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh visited New Zealand and met with Murray McCully as well as Prime Minister

Bill English Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...

. In May 2017, New Zealand Minister of Trade

Todd McClay Todd Michael McClay (born 22 November 1968) is a New Zealand politician and former ambassador. He is the Member of Parliament for Rotorua. He was previously an ambassador for the Cook Islands and Niue to the European Union. Early life McClay ...

visited Vietnam and met Prime Minister

Nguyen Xuan Phuc Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...

and Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

Trade

As of November 2015, Vietnam was New Zealand's fastest-growing export market and its 19th largest export market; this led to agreements on aviation, healthcare and education being made between the two nations. Earlier that year, a goal was set by both countries to double trade between the two of them, as both countries were set on signing the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin ...

amidst criticism.

Migration

New Zealand also has a relatively small Vietnamese community of around 6,000 people, which consists of refugees and their families,

economic migrants An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...

, and students. "Boat People" from Vietnam (1979) expressed concern over the "Boat People":

Diplomatic representatives

Vietnamese ambassadors to New Zealand

; South Vietnam ambassadors to New Zealand #

Trần Văn Lắm Trần Văn Lắm, also known as Charles Trần Văn Lắm (30 July 1913 – 6 February 2001), was a South Vietnamese diplomat and politician, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam under Prime Minister Trần T ...

(1962–1964, resident in Canberra) #

Nguyễn Văn Hiếu Major General Nguyễn Văn Hiếu (23 June 1929, Tientsin, China – 8 April 1975, Biên Hòa, Vietnam) was a general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). As a child he lived in Shanghai. He later emigrated with ...

(1964–1966, resident in Canberra) # Trần Kim Phượng (1967–1970, resident in Canberra) # Nghiêm Mỹ (1969–1972, Chargé d'affaires, resident in Wellington) # Đoàn Bá Cang (1972–1974, the first resident Ambassador) # Nguyễn Hoàn (1974–1975, until the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Zealand-Vietnam relations

Bilateral relations of Vietnam