PM welcomes closer partnership with ASEAN

Prime Minister John Key has welcomed an agreement to work more closely with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to boost trade and investment links and announced New Zealand will invest over $200 million into the region.

Mr Key made the announcement, that New Zealand’s formal relationship with ASEAN would be upgraded from a Comprehensive Partnership to a Strategic Partnership, at the ASEAN-NZ Commemorative Summit in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

“This year we celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations with ASEAN, a key regional partner,” Mr Key says.

“The region – home to 625 million people and with GDP expected to grow to USD$5.2 trillion by 2030 - presents significant opportunities for New Zealand and in recent years we have seen strong growth in trade.

“We are also working closely together on shared political and security challenges. Our new agreement means we will work more closely together on these issues.”

Mr Key also announced New Zealand will increase its investment into the region to more than $200 million over the next three years.

New Zealand’s development assistance programme in the ASEAN region will be the second-largest after the Pacific.

“The funding will focus on building the capability of the region’s people and creating links between our young leaders and emerging entrepreneurs – the people who will build on the ties we have forged in the past 40 years,” Mr Key says.

“We will also expand trade and economic cooperation and capacity building efforts, focusing on New Zealand’s trade and agricultural expertise, and we will increase our efforts to help improve the ability of ASEAN member states to respond to natural disasters.

“This Government is working hard to grow New Zealand’s increasingly valuable relationship with ASEAN and today’s announcements will boost those efforts significantly.”

Mr Key is currently attending the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.