The Prime Minister has set his sights on Vietnam’s “big four” political leaders as he attempts to slice up a larger piece of the country’s economic growth pie for New Zealand.

Chris Luxon touched down in Hanoi late last night, and will spend much of today rubbing shoulders with Vietnam’s political elite.

But the looming spector of China’s presence in the Pacific will be front of mind, as Luxon is hosted in the Capital - just 350 kilometers from the Chinese border.

Despite this, and Vietnam’s close political ties with the People’s Republic, Luxon said the issue of Chinese war ships off the coast of Australia will not be the focal point of his trip.

“Vietnam is in a very important part of the world, geopolitically and it has relationships with both China and the US,” he told the Herald before departing.

“I’m sure we will discuss the regional political issues but the major focus will be on trade.”

And it is trade that is at the heart of the visit; Luxon is travelling with a 20-person business delegation, including the top brass at Auckland University, AUT, Fonterra, Zespri and many others.

But Luxon said in Hanoi, it’s “political engagements up front”.

That includes meetings with the upper echelons of Vietnam’s political hierarchy - Luxon describes them as “the big four”.

That is: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, President Luong Cuong, General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party To Lam, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man.

Prime Minister Chinh holds the most power and he is first on Luxon’s packed meeting agenda.

“The key is deepening the political relationships so that we can enable the economic relationships in trade to really develop,” he said.

Vietnam’s highly centralised system of Government is deeply tied to its private sector - meaning business ventures with other countries often need to get the political nod before they can begin.

“We’re looking to deepen our connection with more layers in the system [and] it’s really important to have those political doors opening up with opportunities for our businesses and exporters,” Luxon said.

Then-Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern’s had a similar approach when she visited Vietnam in 2022. She said she was “kicking down the door” for businesses to operate in the growing market.

One area of particular interest is Vietnam’s overseas education sector. That is, its students looking to go overseas to study.

“International education is probably a bigger market than tourism for us at the moment in Vietnam which is very unusual,” Luxon said.

“So we want to continue to build up education opportunities.”

In fact, one of the first items on Luxon’s agenda is to oversee more than half a dozen MOU signings at Vietnam’s Foreign Trade University, including a Science and AI research collaboration between AUT and Vietnam National University.

The Food and Beverage sectors are also priorities for the trip -- given there are more than 100 million people who live in Vietnam.

And it’s growing population is one of the main reasons Vietnam’s economy is growing at roughly 6% a year; its GDP is $780 billion per annum, compared to New Zealand’s $420 billion.

And Luxon said that is a trend set to continue as it moves from a low to a medium-income economy over the coming years.

He says New Zealand needs to be positioned so it can utilise the country’s economic expansion.

Jason Walls is Newstalk ZB’s political editor and has years of experience in radio and print, including in the Parliamentary Press Gallery for the NZ Herald and Interest.co.nz. He is also the chairman of the Press Gallery.