Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of Vietnam’s ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Nguyen Quoc Dung (Photo: VNA)

In his remarks, Dung emphasised the significance of maritime cooperation to security and economic development in each country, as well as the daily lives of regional residents.  The two sides should strengthen sustainable cooperation and join hands in consolidating and improving the operational efficiency of maritime cooperation mechanisms and frameworks in the region, he said. The countries also need to enhance dialogue, collaboration, trust building and law respect, and ensure an environment of peace, security and stability, in order to facilitate recovery and sustainable growth, Dung stressed.

Representatives attend the 8th ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue held virtually on March 23, 2021 (Photo: VNA)

Alison Mann, head of New Zealand’s ASEAN SOM, said New Zealand attaches importance to the relations with the ten-member grouping, and commits to further working as ASEAN’s active partner in frameworks, dialogues and cooperation mechanisms led by ASEAN in the region.

The two sides agreed to closely coordinate in pushing ahead with the implementation of the Joint ASEAN-New Zealand Leaders’ Vision Statement approved last November so as to deepen their strategic partnership.

The countries consented to continue their close coordination in order to contribute to maintaining regional peace, security and stability, including security and safety in the East Sea.