Asia

Our relationship with Asia

With most of the world’s population and some of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies, Asia is of growing importance to New Zealand’s security, prosperity, and sustainability.

New Zealand has a range of relationships throughout Asia to reflect the interests of our partners there.

We maintain development cooperation programmes with Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste. We also support regional initiatives in the Greater Mekong Sub-region reflecting New Zealand's strengths in agriculture, education, and disaster resilience.

But most of New Zealand’s relationships in Asia have expanded in recent decades to encompass much more diverse connections covering investment, science and technology, education, security and defence, and trade. 

Alongside free trade agreements with individual economies in Asia, New Zealand has several plurilateral agreements that exporters can take advantage of:

• ASEAN-Australia-NZ FTA - AANZFTA
• Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership - P4
• Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
• Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

The Asia New Zealand Foundation(external link) provides experiences and resources to help New Zealanders build their knowledge, skills and confidence to thrive in Asia. The Foundation provides grants, internships, and residencies, and leads sector-specific delegations to Asia. It also offers insights and commissions research to illuminate New Zealand's relationships with the region.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Our relationship with ASEAN

New Zealand formalised its relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(external link) (ASEAN) in 1975, making us its second-oldest dialogue partner. In 2025, New Zealand will celebrate 50 years of dialogue relations with ASEAN. 

A dedicated New Zealand Ambassador to ASEAN was appointed in 2014 and a New Zealand Mission to ASEAN established in 2015, when New Zealand was recognised by ASEAN as a ‘Strategic Partner’. New Zealand is committed to a range of cooperation activities with ASEAN through a five-yearly Plan of Action, encompassing trade and economic enhancement, people-to-people connections, peace and security, and environmental resilience.

The New Zealand Mission to ASEAN, based in Jakarta, is responsible for conducting the New Zealand Government’s official business with the ASEAN Secretariat, representatives of member states, and its partners. Having an Ambassador to ASEAN and a Plan of Action are ways in which New Zealand demonstrates our commitment to strengthening our relationship.

Trade and investment

New Zealand has a thriving trade relationship with ASEAN. In 1975, two-way trade between ASEAN and New Zealand was worth US$133 million and this represents less than three days’ worth of our total trade today. Today ASEAN is one of New Zealand’s most significant sources of foreign students, tourists, and migrants. A key supporter of the economic relationship with the region is the ASEAN New Zealand Business Council(external link) (ANZBC), which provides crucial linkages and information for businesses with ASEAN aspirations. The latest information about New Zealand’s trade profile with ASEAN is available on the New Zealand Trade Dashboard(external link). 

Aid and sustainability

New Zealand also has a long-standing involvement in development cooperation with ASEAN. You can find out more about our regional cooperation here.

Defence and Security

New Zealand regularly engages in key meetings that ASEAN convenes.

New Zealand is a founding member of the East Asia Summit(external link) (EAS). This is the only Leaders’ led forum in the region with a mandate to discuss strategic issues and risks across the political, security and economic spectrum. The EAS comprises the 10 ASEAN countries and eight strategic partners - Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States. New Zealand plays an active role in the EAS, including in climate change, sustainable development, disaster relief, capacity-building, regulatory good practice, and maritime cooperation.

The ASEAN Regional Forum(external link) (ARF) includes the 10 ASEAN members and 17 other countries in the region, including New Zealand. The ARF’s priorities include confidence-building and preventive diplomacy, counter-terrorism and transnational crime, disaster relief, maritime security, information and communications technology (ICT), and disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons. New Zealand regards maritime security as a high priority, and will be co-chairing the ARF workstream on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament alongside the Philippines and Australia until 2027.

New Zealand is a founding member of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus(external link) (ADMM-Plus), a group of Defence Ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners. ADMM-Plus pursues security and defence cooperation in seven areas: maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster management, peacekeeping operations, military medicine, humanitarian mine action, and cyber security. Until 2027, New Zealand and Singapore will be co-chairing the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.