The Prime Minister has set his sights on Vietnam’s “big four” political leaders as he attempts to take a larger piece of the country’s economic pie for New Zealand.
Christopher Luxon touched down in Hanoi last night, and will spend much of today rubbing shoulders with Vietnam’s political elite.
But the looming spectre of China’s presence in the Pacific will be front of mind, as he is hosted in the capital — 350km from the Chinese border.
Despite Vietnam’s close political ties with the People’s Republic, Luxon said the issue of Chinese warships off the coast of Australia would not be the focal point of his trip.
“Vietnam is in a very important part of the world, geopolitically and it has relationships with both China and the US,” he told the Herald before his departure.
“I’m sure we will discuss the regional political issues but the major focus will be on trade.”
A Royal New Zealand Air Force RNZAF Boeing 757 plane on the tarmac at Darwin for refuelling before it sets off on the next leg to Vietnam carrying Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for a trade mission to the South East Asian country. Photo / Jason Walls
Luxon is travelling with a 20-person business delegation, including the top brass at Auckland University, AUT, Fonterra and Zespri.
But it’s “political engagements up front” in Hanoi, he said.
That includes meetings with the upper echelons of Vietnam’s political hierarchy — who Luxon describes as “the big four”: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, President Luong Cuong, Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man.
Prime Minister Chinh holds the most power and was is first on Luxon’s packed meeting agenda.
“The key is deepening the political relationships so that we can enable the economic relationships in trade to really develop,” he said.
Vietnam’s highly centralised system of Government is deeply tied to its private sector — meaning business ventures with other countries often need to get the political nod before they can begin.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“We’re looking to deepen our connection with more layers in the system [and] it’s really important to have those political doors opening up with opportunities for our businesses and exporters,” Luxon said.
One area of particular interest is Vietnam’s overseas education sector — its students looking to go overseas to study.
“International education is probably a bigger market than tourism for us at the moment in Vietnam, which is very unusual,” Luxon said.
“So we want to continue to build up education opportunities.”
One of the first items on Luxon’s agenda is to oversee more than half a dozen MOU signings at Vietnam’s Foreign Trade University, including a Science and AI research collaboration between AUT and Vietnam National University.
The food and beverage sectors are also priorities for the trip, given there are more than 100 million people in Vietnam.
And it’s growing population is one of the main reasons Vietnam’s economy is growing at roughly 6% a year. Its GDP is $780 billion a year, compared to New Zealand’s $420 billion.
Luxon said that was a trend set to continue as it moves from a low- to a medium-income economy over the coming years.
New Zealand needed to be be positioned to utilise the country’s economic expansion, he said.
Jason Walls is Newstalk ZB’s political editor and has years of experience in radio and print, including in the Parliamentary Press Gallery for the NZ Herald and Interest.co.nz. He is also the chairman of the Press Gallery.
