New Zealand Prime Minister leads trade delegation to explore opportunities with Vietnam

New Zealand Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern is leading a trade delegation to Vietnam from 14-17 November to showcase New Zealand products and services, renew connections and identify new trade opportunities.

Prime Minister Arden has started her visit to Vietnam in Ha Noi and will continue to Ho Chi Minh City. She is accompanied by New Zealand Trade Minister for Trade and Export Growth Hon Damien O’Connor and a delegation of executives spanning the food and beverage, aviation, technology, service and sustainability sectors. They collectively represent New Zealand’s commitment to sustainable growth and innovation in Viet Nam and South-East Asia.

New Zealand Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Hon Damien O’Connor at the launch of Fonterra’s Move Check Campaign.

The trade mission began in Ha Noi at a presentation to show how New Zealand dairy can benefit consumers’ health. Dairy is New Zealand’s largest export sector to Vietnam, accounting for almost half of total exports to the country in June 2022.

On this trip, the Prime Minister and Hon Damien O’Connor will visit several New Zealand businesses to understand their efforts to produce sustainable goods for Vietnamese consumers and participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch the first ecostore in Vietnam. The Prime Minister will also attend a launch event where several New Zealand food and beverage businesses will release a selection of new products in Viet Nam in the presence of Vietnam’s largest media outlets and key opinion leaders.

Later that evening, the Prime Minister will deliver the keynote address at the Forbes Women in Leadership Summit at the Gem Centre, highlighting the importance of the role women play in contributing to the economic and social fabric of our communities; the steps New Zealand is taking to support more women in leadership; and the learnings from Vietnamese women leaders.

During the trip, the Prime Minister and business delegation will witness the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU). In the first, Waikato Milking Systems and TH Milk will be signing a MOU which sees the sale of Waikato Milking Systems’ agritech milking platforms to TH Milk. The value of the agreement is expected to be around (NZD) $7 million.

The Prime Minister witnessed the signing ceremony between Waikato Milking Systems and TH Milk.

On 17th November, the Prime Minister and business delegation will wrap up the visit with the second MOU signing between Tiki, a prominent Vietnamese e-commerce platform, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). The agreement will support New Zealand companies to sell their products on the Tiki platform and gain access to Tiki’s millions of customers. NZTE will share knowledge and opportunities to enable Tiki and the New Zealand brands on the platform to grow. This will further support the promotion of New Zealand products and formally launch the inaugural New Zealand week on the platform, which will feature some of New Zealand’s most loved brands.