General Secretary To Lam receives Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament Gerry Brownlee

(laichau.gov.vn) On the afternoon of August 28, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam received New Zealand Parliament Speaker Gerry Brownlee on the occasion of the National Assembly Speaker's official visit to Vietnam.

General Secretary To Lam welcomes New Zealand Parliament Speaker Gerry Brownlee to visit Vietnam - Photo: VNA

At the meeting, General Secretary To Lam welcomed National Assembly Chairman Gerry Brownlee and the New Zealand parliamentary delegation on an official visit to Vietnam; highly appreciated the significance of the visit as it took place on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-New Zealand diplomatic relations (1975-2025) as well as in the jubilant atmosphere of the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day on September 2.

General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated New Zealand as a close and intimate friend who always accompanies and supports Vietnam in the cause of national construction and development; emphasizing that strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two countries not only brings benefits to the people of both countries but also contributes to peace, stability and common cooperation in the Asia- Pacific region.

General Secretary To Lam was pleased to see the strong development of Vietnam-New Zealand relations, in which political trust is the foundation for the two countries to enhance cooperation in various fields. In that spirit, the General Secretary suggested that the two sides increase delegation exchanges at all levels and through channels of the Party, Government, National Assembly, people and businesses to increase mutual understanding.

The General Secretary emphasized that the economies of Vietnam and New Zealand are complementary to each other, and the potential for cooperation between the two countries is still very large; in the context of many fluctuations in the world economy and trade, the two countries need to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation, creating conditions for the two countries' strong products to access the market, aiming for the two-way trade turnover target of 3 billion USD as set out.

The General Secretary was pleased to see the strong development of Vietnam - New Zealand relations and suggested that the two sides increase delegation exchanges at all levels and through channels of the Party, Government, National Assembly, people and businesses to increase mutual understanding. - Photo: VNA

General Secretary To Lam said that cultural, educational and people-to-people cooperation is an important pillar in the bilateral relationship; thanked New Zealand for accepting a large number of Vietnamese students to study and train in English and other majors; and suggested that the two sides soon promote direct flights as well as visa procedures, facilitating travel for people of the two countries.

On this occasion, the General Secretary also asked New Zealand to continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work in New Zealand, promoting the community's contribution to the socio-economic development of New Zealand as well as the Vietnam-New Zealand relationship in general.

Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament Gerry Brownlee thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for the warm and respectful welcome given to him personally and to the New Zealand parliamentary delegation.

National Assembly Chairman Gerry Brownlee sent his congratulations to the General Secretary, leaders and people of Vietnam on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of National Day, September 2; expressed his joy in visiting and admiration for witnessing the heroic, excited atmosphere and national pride of the Vietnamese people before the country's important event; showing the special national spirit of the Vietnamese people.

Speaker of the National Assembly Gerry Brownlee expressed his delight at witnessing Vietnam's important transformation and emphasized that New Zealand values ​​Vietnam's key role in Southeast Asia, considering Vietnam an important and close partner in the region - Photo: VNA

Speaker of the National Assembly Gerry Brownlee expressed his delight at witnessing Vietnam's important transformation and emphasized that New Zealand values ​​Vietnam's key role in Southeast Asia, considering Vietnam an important and close partner in the region; highly appreciating that the two countries share many similarities, especially the view on development based on economic growth coupled with social and human development. Speaker of the National Assembly Gerry Brownlee affirmed that the New Zealand Parliament, the body representing the voice of the New Zealand people, will actively contribute to strengthening the friendly relations between the two peoples and deepening cooperation areas.

The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament welcomed Vietnamese students, scientists and researchers to study and conduct research in New Zealand; highly appreciated the Vietnamese community in New Zealand for their positive contributions to the local community; agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation in tourism, trade and investment, especially promoting the early establishment of direct flights between the two countries.

The two leaders agreed to cooperate more closely on regional and international issues. General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam is ready to cooperate and support New Zealand in further strengthening relations with ASEAN and moving towards upgrading the ASEAN-New Zealand dialogue relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by 2025.

Updated on August 28, 2025

Source: https://laichau.gov.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/chuyen-de/tin-trong-nuoc/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-tiep-chu-tich-quoc-hoi-new-zealand-gerry-brownlee.html