What the Vietnam president's visit to New Zealand means for you
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says there is a clear path forward for New Zealand's relationship with Vietnam after a visit by Vietnam's president, Tô Lâm. It was the first visit by a Vietnamese president since 2007.
Tô Lâm is the most powerful political figure in Vietnam, holding both the role of president and the top job in the country's Communist Party. He arrived in New Zealand on 12 August 2026 for a three-day state visit, according to Vietnamese state media VNA. The trip was part of a wider tour covering Australia and New Zealand from 9 to 14 August, per the Vietnamese government Reuters. The New Zealand government said Tô Lâm would arrive in Auckland on 12 August and leave the next day The Diplomat. He met with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro in Auckland on 13 August, local time VietnamPlus.
Luxon and Tô Lâm held talks on Thursday. Afterwards, Luxon described Tô Lâm as "probably the most powerful leader in Vietnam, I'd say, since Hồ Chí Minh." The two leaders watched the signing of cooperation documents during the visit VietnamPlus.
The visit builds on a step-up in the relationship last year, when the two countries agreed to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level of relationship Vietnam has with any country. That came as New Zealand and Vietnam marked 50 years of diplomatic ties. Luxon visited Vietnam last year and met Tô Lâm in Hanoi at that time.
Vietnam is New Zealand's 13th largest trading partner. Trade between the two countries was worth $3.41 billion in the year to March 2026, up 72 percent over five years. New Zealand's biggest exports to Vietnam are dairy, fruit, and wood. The biggest things New Zealand buys from Vietnam include electrical equipment, travel, footwear, and machinery.
The relationship upgrade has opened specific new trade access. New Zealand can now sell more honey, deer velvet, and venison to Vietnam. In return, New Zealand gets access to more Vietnamese flowers and foliage, including carnations, daisies, orchids, and lilies. During the visit, the two countries signed a new agreement to increase cooperation in agriculture, fisheries, and forestry.
A joint statement from Luxon and Tô Lâm said the two countries would work to remove non-tariff barriers, which are rules or red tape that make trade harder even when tariffs are low or zero, to help businesses and consumers get more out of their free trade deals. The two countries also set up a new regular security meeting between senior officials and agreed to fund efforts against organised crime in the Mekong region.
Luxon described Vietnam as "a rising star of Asia" and said there were huge opportunities for the countries to work closer together. He also said the relationship showed the "massive diversification" countries were doing to find new trading partners, as US tariffs affect both Vietnam and New Zealand.
The broader context here is that the trade and security steps from this visit show how far the New Zealand–Vietnam relationship has come beyond its historical baseline. The new security meeting between officials is something that has not been a big part of the relationship before. The funding for crime-fighting in the Mekong region suggests Wellington wants a bigger role in Southeast Asian security, beyond its usual work through ASEAN, the main group of Southeast Asian nations.
The tariff situation Luxon pointed to matters because both New Zealand and Vietnam rely heavily on exports and are exposed to shifts in US trade policy. Both countries already belong to multilateral trade agreements, including the CPTPP and RCEP, which group multiple countries together under shared trade rules. The focus on removing non-tariff barriers in the joint statement points to a real frustration for exporters: even when a free trade agreement exists on paper, practical hurdles can still get in the way.
