Christopher Luxon is greeted by officials on his arrival in Hanoi. Photo: RNZ / Giles Dexter
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has arrived in Vietnam for his first trade mission of the year, with a business delegation of tech, food and beverage, and education heavy-hitters in tow.
Vietnam is New Zealand's fourteenth biggest trading partner, and one Luxon has identified as a "rising star" in the Indo-Pacific.
Those watching closely say it's an economy on the up, and paying a visit now is ideal timing.
"No matter where you turn, there's a lot of change and a lot of growth. So you can almost insert the sector that might be of interest to New Zealand companies or New Zealand universities, and there will be an opportunity in Vietnam," chief executive of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Suz Jessep said.
Trade between the two nations has grown by 123 percent since 2015, and Vietnam's annual growth is predicted to be seven percent by 2030.
In the year to June 2024, New Zealand exports to Vietnam were worth $1.01 billion, with dairy, fruit, and wood leading the charge.
Vietnam's exports to New Zealand were worth $1.67b. Electrical equipment, travel, footwear, and clothing were seen as the biggest contributors.
Luxon's "growth, growth, growth" maxim may have been repeated ad nauseum over the past month from Cabinet to backbench, but his first overseas trip with a trade delegation since adopting the phrase is the first real opportunity to sell it.
In an interview with RNZ before flying out, Luxon said political talks would open up more two-way trade.
"There's a great opportunity for us to really make sure that we build that rapport, those relationships at a political level, that creates the opportunity and the conditions then for the businesses to come in and identify the sectors where there's opportunity for mutual benefit," he said.
Period of rapid change in Vietnam
Haike Manning was New Zealand's ambassador to Vietnam from 2012 to 2016, and still lives in Ho Chi Minh City.
He said the changes he had noticed in Vietnam's economy even since he left his post had been rapid.
"It's hard to think of a place which is changing faster on the planet than Vietnam is. The change, for example, in the way in which people buy their food and the rise of modern retail here in the last few years, sort of changing consumer habits. All of that is, I think, really important context for how the relationship is also evolving," he said.
Manning said New Zealand had developed a reputation in Vietnam for high-quality food, and Vietnam in-turn had an emerging consumer market ready to pay for it.
"I think for New Zealand, the challenge is really going to be, and the opportunity is, about how we maintain Vietnam's attention, and how we continue to nurture that relationship as Vietnam becomes a bigger player on the global stage."
The first day will have an education focus for the trade delegation.
It contains the usual big names like Fonterra and Zespri, which have already made inroads in Vietnam, but also education institutes such as AUT and the University of Auckland, which suggests there will be overtures towards attracting Vietnamese students to New Zealand.
Vietnam is the third-largest 'exporter' of students (after India and China), and while New Zealand was attracting some of that market, Luxon wants more.
"The Vietnamese market is disproportionately strong for international education. They rate New Zealand very highly in their system as a place of education, and so it's just making sure that we're on the radar again," he said.
Luxon is also set to deliver a keynote address to an ASEAN 'future forum' in Hanoi, along with his counterparts from Vietnam and Malaysia, before holding bilateral talks with his counterpart Phạm Minh Chính.
Prime Ministers Christopher Luxon and Pham Minh Chinh in Wellington on 11 March, 2024. Photo: Twitter / NZ Embassy Vietnam
'Huge trade opportunity' - Luxon
RNZ understands the two will discuss upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as the two countries celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations.
Luxon said he and Chính already got on well, having met last year in New Zealand.
"It's just stepping up that tempo. We think there's a huge trade opportunity for both countries, and both Prime Ministers are very focused on delivering against that," Luxon said.
He is also set to meet with Vietnam's president Lương Cường, and the general secretary Tô Lâm. A meeting with Trần Thanh Mẫn, the chair of the National Assembly is also on the cards.
Vietnam's political system means meetings with all four hold strategic importance, though the bulk of Luxon's time and conversation will be spent with Chính.
Strategically, both Jessep and Manning said Vietnam and New Zealand were aligned.
"It's playing an increasingly active role in our region as a rising power. It's starting to shape the rules and order of the Indo-Pacific, and in many ways, how Vietnam and New Zealand look at our region is aligned and like-minded," Jessep said.
"I think as New Zealand looks at how it can play its part in making sure that you have good regional security and peace, I think Vietnam is going to be a really important partner, because they're very pragmatic, and they understand really well, I think, all sides and the interests that are at play."
Vietnam is the fifteenth overseas nation Luxon has visited since he took on the top job.
Trips to India and China are also widely expected this year, as well as a second attempt to visit Indonesia after that trip was abruptly cancelled.
Fourteen months since he took the reins, Luxon is yet to visit Europe.
He said while missions to Europe would come in time, the early focus on the Indo-Pacific was deliberate.
"That's where our prosperity actually sits, and where our growth opportunities exist," he said.
"We're in a unique part of the world, the most dynamic part of the world, and we're bang-smack in the middle of it, in terms of our opportunity to be able to access and sell New Zealand products and services to these higher markets, and more importantly these markets that are growing from low to middle income to high income over time."
Jessep said Asia's shifts economically, technologically, and demographically were going to be hugely significant for New Zealand's future.
"Any back of the envelope assessment shows that Asia is the region where we need to be investing time and energy, not just connecting our economies, but actually connecting our education sector, our people, our governments, because of the importance of this region," she said.
