New Zealand invested more than 130 million USD in ASEAN

In the framework of the 27th ASEAN Summit and related Summits, on November 22, at the Summit commemorating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between ASEAN and New Zealand, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced to invest more than 200 million New Zealand dollars (more than 131 million USD) in ASEAN countries over the next 3 years. This is considered part of the agreement to upgrade New Zealand relations. – ASEAN develops a strategic partnership. This investment will make New Zealand's development assistance program in the ASEAN region the second largest after the Pacific region. New Zealand will deploy the above investment over three years, focusing on building the capacity of people in the region and creating links between leaders and entrepreneurs.

Prime Minister John Key expressed confidence that with a total population of 625 million people and a total GDP expected to increase to 5.2 trillion USD by 2030, ASEAN will bring significant opportunities to New Zealand. He emphasized that the two sides are working closely together on issues related to political and security challenges, and the new agreement will contribute to promoting even closer cooperation. In the coming time, New Zealand will focus on cooperation with ASEAN on two main strategic focuses: one is expanding and strengthening training, exchange and labor mobility, mainly focusing on the youth; and two is to narrow the development gap based on New Zealand's experiences in agriculture and trade.