Viet Nam delegation visit Wellington for Track II Dialogue

The second round of Track II discussions between the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam (DAV) and a New Zealand team convened by the Asia New Zealand Foundation took place in Wellington on 22 and 23 March 2010.

The Foundation manages and participates in a number of Track II dialogues with partners in Asian countries. Viet Nam is currently the only bilateral dialogue we have: there is a separate Australia/New Zealand/ASEAN  annual dialogue as well. As is Asia New Zealand Foundation practice, we included two young leaders in the New Zealand delegation: the DAV also brought a young leader on their team. (View Jordan Green's report in our young leaders' section)

The exchanges this year with our colleagues from the DAV focussed on regional architecture in East Asia; ASEAN; and New Zealand-Viet Nam bilateral relations.

With the huge amount of interest in countries of the Asia-Pacific region in the ways in which international cooperation in the region is going to be organised, it was not surprising that this topic occupied a prime place in the dialogue. There are a several initiatives alive at present, including the APc initiative of Australian Prime Minister Rudd; the proposal for an East Asia Community by Prime Minster Hatoyama of Japan; the East Asia Summit; and the meetings which ASEAN has with a number of states in East Asia. APEC, as a broader Asia-Pacific cooperation body fits in there somewhere, as does the new proposal for a Trans Pacific Partnership, which held its first meeting in Melbourne last month.  And the G20 has taken over on the global stage as a body for discussion of economic and financial cooperation.

The exchanges showed that trying to establish a new regional body is seen as difficult by both New Zealand and Viet Nam. Both sides agreed that there is no appetite for any new organisation in the region, but at the same time, there is great interest in expanding economic and security cooperation. New Zealand is keen to participate in organisations where leaders meet to talk about key international issues, and Vietnam is a supporter of that involvement.

Viet Nam is currently serving as Chair of ASEAN, so the DAV side was able to give some good insight into the way in which ASEAN is going about achieving its goal of creating an ASEAN community by 2015. This is not without its challenges given the different levels of economic development, and the difference in political systems across ASEAN, but it is seen as critical to ASEAN’s role in East Asia over the coming decades. New Zealand has been a dialogue partner of ASEAN for over 35 years, and has long seen the grouping as a key partner. In addition to its internal development, ASEAN also sees itself as “the centre of gravity” in the region, so critical to the development of new structures, be they political, economic, or security.  The DAV confirmed that this is indeed how ASEAN itself sees its role.

On the bilateral side, the exchanges showed that the relationship has come a long way, quickly, and that the two Governments have devoted quality time and effort to strengthening it. The visit of the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Viet Nam to New Zealand in 2009, and the planned visit to Hanoi by the New Zealand Prime minster later this year, show the importance both sides attach to it. The DAV team commented that they thought there was room for considerable expansion in the economic relationship, involving both services and investment, and in particular in the education field, where New Zealand can provide levels of study and expertise which Viet Nam is seeking.

Both sides agreed that a further round of the dialogue should be held in Hanoi in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Some of the papers presented over the two days are now available below. Members of the delegations included:

New Zealand:

  • Dr Richard Grant, Executive Director, Asia:NZ

  • Dr. David Capie, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington

  • Dr Jian Yang, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, The University of Auckland (view paper)

  • Dr Anthony Smith, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (attending in a private capacity)

  • Professor Robert Ayson, Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington (view paper)

  • Dr James Kember, former New Zealand Ambassador to Viet Nam (attending in a private capacity, view paper)

  • Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke (view paper)

  • Dr Andrew Butcher, Director, Research and Policy, Asia:NZ

  • Brian Lynch, Director of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs

Viet Nam

  • Ambassador Prof. Duong Van Quang. Prof Quang, President of the DAV

  • Ha Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of Center for Political and Security Studies, Institute of Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, DAV

  • Nguyen Tien Phong, Assistant DG, Director of Department of External Cooperation, DAV

  • Nguyen Hung Son, Assistant DG, Director of Centre for Regional and Foreign Policy Studies, Institute of Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, DAV

These meetings take place against a background of ever-closer relations between the two countries. This is the second such dialogue - the first took place in Ha Noi in 2008.

Papers presented at conference included:

Read more:

Last updated: 01 April 2010
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