On the evening of August 12 (local time), in Auckland city (New Zealand), General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation met with officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy, the Vietnamese community in New Zealand and the South Pacific island nation.
Speaking at the meeting, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that Vietnam and New Zealand have had more than 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations, and the relationship is developing better and better.
The two countries upgraded relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2025, demonstrating a high level of trust and comprehensive cooperation in all fields. This visit was made with the desire to further deepen the relationship and promote increasingly substantive and effective bilateral cooperation activities.
The two sides will jointly exchange and sign on many cooperation pillars; focus on cooperation in areas where the two sides have advantages. New Zealand is a strong maritime nation; Vietnam has maritime advantages and is aiming to build a strong maritime nation.
The General Secretary and President said that the Politburo has just issued a new resolution on the work of overseas Vietnamese (Resolution No. 23-NQ/TW, dated August 2, 2026), which emphasizes that the overseas Vietnamese community is not only an organic and inseparable part of the Vietnamese ethnic community but also a strategic resource for national development.
Sending sincere greetings to Vietnamese people in New Zealand and the South Pacific island country, the General Secretary and President acknowledged and praised the Vietnamese community and associations and delegations of Vietnamese people in New Zealand for having many meaningful and very commendable activities.
The people are ambassadors contributing to spreading the beautiful image of Vietnam to international friends; hoping that the people will continue to enhance the spirit of solidarity, join hands to build an increasingly strong community, uphold national pride, preserve and promote the traditional cultural identity of their homeland, and continue to make practical contributions to the development process of their homeland and country.
The community is always united and attached, supporting and helping each other to develop the economy, improve the quality of life and look towards the homeland, and at the same time actively contribute, becoming a very important factor promoting the good relationship between Vietnam and New Zealand.
In the meeting, reporting on the operational situation of the Vietnamese community in New Zealand, Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Phan Minh Giang emphasized that currently, the Vietnamese community in New Zealand has about 15,000 people, integrates well with the locality, always actively preserves national traditions and cultural identity and is oriented towards the Fatherland, making positive contributions to Vietnam-New Zealand relations. Vietnamese associations and unions have been established in all major cities of New Zealand. Vietnamese student associations are operating vibrantly and actively.
Notably recently, the Vietnamese Knowledge Network in New Zealand was established for Vietnamese people, of Vietnamese people and for Vietnamese people, connecting knowledge, sharing experiences to build a united, integrated and developing Vietnamese community.
