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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Oceania

New Zealand

Singapore's diplomatic relationships and recent highlights with New Zealand.

Overview

Singapore and New Zealand enjoy a close, multifaceted and longstanding relationship. As countries that are small and open, we share many interests and strategic views, and cooperate closely both bilaterally and in multilateral forums.

Singapore and NZ upgraded bilateral relations to an Enhanced Partnership (EP) in May 2019. The EP was formally established through a Joint Declaration signed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during the latter’s official visit to Singapore in May 2019. We have developed 26 bilateral cooperation initiatives across the EP’s four pillars: (a) trade and economics; (b) security and defence; (c) science, technology, and innovation; and (d) people-to-people links.

The Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership (ANZSCEP), Singapore’s first bilateral FTA and New Zealand’s second, was signed in Singapore by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and then-New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in November 2000 and came into effect on 1 January 2001. The ANZSCEP was upgraded as part of the EP and came into force on 1 January 2020. Both countries are also party to the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) which came into effect on 1 January 2010, as well as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which was signed on 8 March 2018.

Defence is also a key pillar of bilateral relations. In addition to being members of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), Singapore’s and New Zealand’s armed forces conduct regular bilateral training. Singapore’s and New Zealand’s troops have partnered each other in missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. New Zealand also hosts the Singapore Armed Forces for unilateral military training in New Zealand, and both countries work well together at multilateral security fora.

We have cooperated closely with New Zealand amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, including in supply chain connectivity. Singapore and NZ are parties to bilateral and plurilateral statements that reaffirm our commitment to maintain trade flows for essential goods, including: (a) the Joint Ministerial Statement on Supply Chain Connectivity issued in March 2020;  (b) the Declaration on Trade in Essential Goods for Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic announced in April 2020; and (c) the Joint Ministerial Statement on Action Plans to Faciliate the Flow of Goods and Services and the Essential Movement of People issued in May 2020.  Singapore and NZ are also co-sponsors of the Joint Statement on Open Markets, Flow of Essential Goods and Supply Chain Connectivity issued by the UN in May 2020.

Recent highlights

2020

  • Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had a teleconference with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in April, while Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan spoke to New Zealand DPM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters twice in April to discuss bilateral cooperation amid COVID-19.

  • Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held a Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on 27 May, in conjunction with the first anniversary of the EP.

  • Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing had a videoconference with New Zealand Minister for Energy and Resources Megan Woods on 16 June.

2019

  • Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How visited New Zealand from 14 to 16 January in conjunction with the Singapore Armed Forces’ Exercise Thunder Warrior, an artillery live-firing exercise.

  • Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat met New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in January. 

  • New Zealand Minister of Forestry, Infrastructure, and Regional Economic Development Shane Jones visited Singapore on 18 March accompanied by a delegation from Infrastructure New Zealand, and met Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.  

  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made an official visit to Singapore in May 2019 to co-sign the Singapore-New Zealand EP with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.  New Zealand Minister for Agricutlure Damien O’Connor also met Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli during the trip.

  • New Zealand Minister of Defence Ron Mark visited Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue in June 2019. He also made an introductory visit to Singapore hosted by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen in November.

  • New Zealand National Party Spokesperson for Education and Spokesperson for Sport and Recreation  Nikki Kaye visited Singapore as the 67th  Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellow in September, where she called on Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung.

  • Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah met New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson on the sidelines of the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting in Chile in October.

  • Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan met New Zealand DPM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Nagoya, Japan in November.

  • New Zealand Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito Tofae Su’a William Sio met Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung during his visit to Singapore in December.

  • Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli met New Zealand Minister for Climate Change James Shaw on the sidelines of the COP25 in Madrid in December.

2018

  • New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters made his first Official Visit to Singapore from 23 to 24 April. DPM Peters called on DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam and was hosted to lunches by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen.

  • Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan met DPM Peters on the sidelines of the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits on 15 November 2018 and the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings on 3 August.

  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Singapore for the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in November, where she met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines.

  • There were also several incoming visits in 2018, including that of New Zealand Speaker of Parliament Trevor Mallard, and New Zealand Ministers such as Minister of Defence Ron Mark and Minister of Education Chris Hipkins.