Vietnam, New Zealand agree to boost all-round cooperationPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, agreed on major directions to boost the future Vietnam-New Zealand cooperation in all fields during their talks in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 13. In defence-security, PM Ardern agreed that the two sides should implement specific cooperation within the newly-signed Action Programme on defence cooperation in the 2018-2021 period. They agreed on numerous trade promotion activities, including the facilitation of farm produce exports, in order to bring bilateral trade to 1.7 – 2 billion USD by 2020. PM Ardern expressed her delight at positive growth in bilateral tourism cooperation, which is reflected through the fact that New Zealand welcomed 17,000 Vietnamese tourists last year. She affirmed to maintain assistance for Vietnam in human resources training, while backing the opening of direct air routes linking the two countries, and committing to facilitating tourism and trade cooperation.