Permanent Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Council Tran Phuoc Son expressed his delight at the fine development of the Viet Nam - New Zealand bilateral ties since the two countries formally elevated their bilateral relationship to Strategic Partnership in July 2020 when chairing an investment promotion seminar in Auckland, New Zealand on September 9.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Council Tran Phuoc Son presenting a souvenir gift to leader of the Alpha Laboratories company

In his remarks at the event, Vice Chairman Son said since Viet Nam and New Zealand upgraded their bilateral relationship to Strategic Partnership in July 2020, the two countries have regularly and effectively maintained high and all-level delegation exchanges and meetings.

In addition, all-level economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has continuously evolved. Viet Nam’s average export growth rate to New Zealand reached 9.9% in the 2014-2023 period, nearly equal to its average export growth rate to to the world in the same period (10.6%).

In Da Nang alone, the city's leaders paid friendly visits to New Zealand in 2012 and 2018. New Zealand has so far invested US$245,000 in 3 FDI projects in the city. Many comprehensive cooperation programmes between Da Nang and localities of New Zealand have been carried out in recent years, especially in the fields of education and health. Every year, many of Da Nang cadres and students join training programmes in New Zealand.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Council Tran Phuoc Son (left) giving a souvenir gift to CEO of the NZTech.

During the event, Mr. Tran Phuoc Son informed the attendees about the city’s investment and business environment. He said that Da Nang has been focusing on attracting FDI capital, and promoting cooperation programmes between the two sides, aiming to realize the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in celebration of 50 years of their diplomatic relations and five years of the strategic partnership.

The city leader took the opportunity to invite more businesses from Auckland in particular, and New Zealand in general, to invest in trade and tourism in Da Nang. He vowed to create all favourable conditions for New Zealand businesses to implement investment and business projects in the city in the coming time.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Peter Vile, Vice President of the ASEAN New Zealand Business Council, highlighted the similarities between Da Nang and Auckland in the development potential for tourism, hi-tech agriculture, digital technology solutions and language training. He said Da Nang is the pearl of Viet Nam, and the economic - cultural - social hub in Central Viet Nam, whilst Auckland is the busiest city in New Zealand.

He underlined the importance of the event in building cooperative relationships in various fields between the two sides and lifting the bilateral relations to new heights in the coming time.

According to Ms. Amanda Pausina, a representative of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), Da Nang is an important partner in the NZTE ecosystem. The leaders of both countries hope to bring two-way trade to $3 billion in the upcoming two years.

She said that New Zealand businesses will also increase their visits to Da Nang to promote two-way cooperation towards the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic ties and five years of the strategic partnership in 2025.

Also during the event, Da Nang and New Zealand businesses discussed cooperation issues and shared development experiences. In particular, the Saigon Tel High-Tech Investment and Development Company Limited and the Saigon - Da Nang Investment JSC (SDN) briefed the attendees on their investment environment and special policies for foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nick Siu, a representative of the Asia New Zealand Fund said that in July 2025, he is expected to connect about 100 businesses to visit and seek investment cooperation opportunities in Da Nang.

In his conclusion, Vice Chairman Tran Phuoc Son thanked the ASEAN-New Zealand Business Council and NZTE for supporting the city in organising the seminar. Hopefully, Da Nang will soon welcome businesses and investors to visit and seek investment opportunities in the near future, he added.

Also on the same day, a group of Da Nang’s officials, led by Vice Chairman Tran Phuoc Son, had a working session with the Alpha Laboratories Company, a long-standing brand specialising in the production of world-leading prestigious health care products.

Mr. Tran Phuoc Son said that with more than 20 years of operation, the company's high-quality health care products have gained a solid position in the world market, including in Viet Nam. In the coming time, aside from expanding the consumption market, introducing and distributing products in Da Nang, the city hopes that the company will invest in product research and development activities in Da Nang.

The Da Nang delegation taking a souvenir photo at the seminar

On September 10, at the Office of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Auckland, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Council Tran Phuoc Son had a meeting with the New Zealand Tech Alliance (NZTech).

At the meeting, Mr. Son informed about the city's socio-economic situation and its development orientation in the coming time. He said that Da Nang always rolled out red carpet for foreign investors, including those from New Zealand, to invest in the fields of semiconductor, artificial intelligence, healthcare, and hi-tech.

Moreover, the city is continuing to focus on developing infrastructure and training high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of investors. The city is willing to create all conditions for New Zealand businesses to operate effectively in the city.

He hoped that through this working session, NZTech will appeal for more New Zealand's hi-tech enterprises to invest in Da Nang, especially in the Hi-tech Park, the Concentrated Information Technology Park and other industrial parks, thereby building an ecosystem of semiconductor, and artificial intelligence in Da Nang.

The NZTech Group is a member-funded NGO that represents over 2,000 members, employing around 10 percent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s workforce. NZTech helps connect technology ecosystems, organisations and enthusiasts together and create collective impact in service of our vision for a more prosperous, equitable, sustainable and safe Aotearoa New Zealand.

NZTech's work is enacted by 15 member-funded communities focused on high growth areas of tech included agritech, biotech, fintech, AI, digital identity and more.

Reporting by LE ANH TIEN - Translating by M.DUNG