Many senior officials and members of parliament of New Zealand joined representatives from diplomatic corps, overseas Vietnamese and students studying in the country attended the event.

In her address to the ceremony, New Zealand ’s Minister of Conservation, Labour and Food Safety, Kate Wilkinson, said the bilateral relations were elevated to “comprehensive partnership” during the visit to New Zealand of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh in 2009.

“Over those 35 years we have developed a special relationship and have come to value Vietnam as an increasingly influential and supportive friend in our region,” the minister said.

Wilkinson stressed that Vietnam has also become a substantial trade and business partner for New Zealand and many New Zealand companies find it an ideal first point of entry into the Asian marketplace.

The entry into force of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) is opening further opportunities for trade, she added.

“Similarly we see great scope for increasing people to people contact -- especially tourism, education, science, and soon, we hope, a working holiday scheme for our young people,” the minister said.

The Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand , Vuong Hai Nam , said New Zealand was one of the first countries that established diplomatic ties with Vietnam after it regained national reunification in 1975.

Over the past 35 years, the bilateral friendship and cooperative relations are growing well in various areas, including science and technology, natural resources and environment, defence, customs and labour.

Vietnam and New Zealand have closely coordinated and supported each other in regional and international organisations and forums, Nam said.

“In addition to the frequent exchanges of delegations, trade and economic cooperation between our two countries has rapidly expanded. Two-way trade turnover reaches about 500 million USD a year,” the ambassador noted.

Thousands of New Zealand tourists have been warmly welcomed to Viet Nam . At the same time, thousands of Vietnamese students have chosen New Zealand to pursue their studies.

Vietnam -- as Chair of ASEAN in 2010 -- has actively supported New Zealand ’s engagement in the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus to be held in Hanoi at the end of this year.

The diplomat stressed that the Action Plan scheduled to be signed during the visit to Vietnam by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Murry McCully, this July will lay the foundation for comprehensive cooperation in a wide range of issues for the 2010-2013 period.

Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam and New Zealand have organised a series of activities to celebrate 35 years of their diplomatic relations. New Zealand hosted a seminar to raise awareness of AANZFTA among New Zealand companies and introduce investment and business opportunities in Vietnam .

In return, Vietnam plans to hold a workshop to introduce AANZFTA to the domestic business community and invite New Zealand officials and companies to visit Vietnam to establish and expand partnerships./.