Vietnamese President To Lam to Visit Australia and New Zealand

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, To Lam, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will pay a State visit to Australia and New Zealand from August 9 to August 14, 2026, at the invitation of Australian Governor-General Sam Mostyn and New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kiro. The visit occurs amidst positively developing relations between Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, with economic, trade, investment, and development cooperation serving as key pillars. This presents an opportunity for all parties to strengthen political trust, expand substantive cooperation, and more effectively tap into potentials that still hold plenty of room for growth. Regarding Australia, economic, trade, and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Australia has achieved commendable results in recent years. In 2025, bilateral trade turnover reached $14 billion USD, a slight decrease of 0.3% compared to 2024. Vietnam’s exports to Australia reached $6.8 billion USD, up 5.6%; imports reached $7.2 billion USD, down 5.3%. Vietnam’s trade deficit with Australia stood at $378.9 million USD, down 67% compared to 2024. Currently, Australia is Vietnam’s seventh-largest trading partner, while Vietnam ranks as Australia’s tenth-largest trading partner. The structure of traded goods is increasingly diverse, especially in the agricultural and food sectors. Australia has opened its market to numerous Vietnamese agricultural products such as lychees, mangoes, dragon fruit, longans, passion fruit, pomelos, and frozen shrimp. Conversely, Vietnam has permitted imports of various fruits from Australia, including oranges, mandarins, cherries, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, and blueberries. Investment cooperation between the two countries has also continued to expand. As of May 31, 2026, Australian investors had 734 active projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of over $1.9 billion USD, ranking 22nd among 154 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Regarding New Zealand, economic and trade relations between Vietnam and New Zealand have maintained positive growth momentum, featuring a highly complementary commodity structure with minimal direct competition. Vietnam is currently New Zealand’s 12th-largest trading partner, accounting for about 2.1% of the country’s total import and export turnover. New Zealand is Vietnam’s 41st-largest trading partner. According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and New Zealand reached $1.5 billion USD in 2025, a 15.8% increase compared to 2024. Of this, Vietnam’s exports to New Zealand reached $711 million USD, up 3.4%; imports reached $784 million USD, up 29.8%. During the first six months of 2026, two-way trade turnover hit $844.4 million USD, rising 14.6% over the same period last year. Vietnam’s exports reached $399.6 million USD, up 18.8%; imports reached $444.8 million USD, up 11.1%. Vietnam’s export items to New Zealand include phones and components, computers, electronic products, seafood, cashew nuts, and footwear. Meanwhile, Vietnam imports dairy and dairy products, fruits, wood, textile and footwear raw materials, machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, iron and steel scrap, and various types of iron and steel from New Zealand.