Speech to the ASEAN – NZ Business Council

[Speech delivered to the ASEAN - NZ Business Council, at 7:35am, Auckland Business Chamber]

Good morning.

Simon Bridges, Chief Executive of the Auckland Business Chamber; Kathleen Morrison, Chair of the ASEAN-NZ Business Council; Ambassadors and High Commissioners; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is a pleasure to be with you at this early hour. Foreign policy may not seem like breakfast fare. Yet it shapes the deals you strike, the people you employ, the stability your businesses depend on, and the markets you seek to grow.

Why a Foreign Policy Reset?

Last year, Cabinet approved a reset of New Zealand's foreign policy. It requires us to focus harder, move faster, and lift our ambition with our key partners in Southeast Asia.

Why a reset? Because the world has changed - and because drifting is not a strategy, however much our predecessor treated it like one.

The global outlook is worsening. Ukraine remains under illegal assault. For two years, the Middle East has been beset by conflict and humanitarian crisis. The rules, institutions, and norms that steadied the post-war order are now seriously strained. In too many places, power is replacing principle.

A generation ago, the picture looked different. Trade liberalisation was advancing. Democracy was on the march. Multilateralism was effective and widely respected. Today, uncertainty is the operating environment. The system is under pressure, and geography offers no protection.

That is why foreign policy matters to every New Zealander. It is not an abstract exercise in Wellington. It is the framework that underpins our export earnings, secures our supply chains, and gives businesses the certainty to invest for the long-term. It sets the rules for our vast Exclusive Economic Zone, safeguards Antarctica as a place of peace and science, and establishes how nations should act in the new frontiers of cyberspace and outer space - where rules are still being written.

It is also central to our security. UN Charter principles recognise our sovereignty, and respect for them underpins regional stability. Partnerships with trusted countries help us stop illicit drugs at the border, disrupt terrorist threats, and protect New Zealanders in times of crisis. And foreign policy expands opportunity - through tourism, education, and the chance for young New Zealanders to work abroad, gain skills, and bring them home.

The reset is defined by its realism, delivery and national interest. Realism takes the world as it is; delivery comes through practical diplomacy and clear priorities; with a clear-eyed focus on advancing New Zealand's security and prosperity. For a small state, rules matter - without them, size decides.

Why Southeast Asia?

Southeast Asia is central to our foreign policy reset because it is central to New Zealand's future.

Collectively, Southeast Asia is New Zealand's fourth-largest trading partner. Last year we exported over $10 billion in goods and services to the region. Nearly 10,000 students from Southeast Asia studied here, contributing around half a billion dollars to our economy. ASEAN countries held NZ$18 billion of investment in New Zealand. And the upgraded ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area entered into force in April 2025, modernising rules to grow those flows.

But the case for Southeast Asia is not just today's trade ledger - important as it is. It is the trajectory. This is one of the world's most dynamic regions, where demographics, urbanisation, and rising middle classes are reshaping demand. Economies are investing in digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, agri-food systems, and the energy transition - areas where New Zealand is competitive, and where your businesses can find new customers, partners, and investment.

For New Zealand firms, Southeast Asia is not just a destination - it is a growth multiplier.

Security matters just as much as economics. Transnational crime, irregular migration, and radicalisation in the region can have a direct impact on New Zealand. Through close cooperation with our law enforcement partners in Southeast Asia, the New Zealand Customs Service intercepted 1.8 tonnes of illicit drugs last year - preventing $1.4 billion of harm here in New Zealand. That is what practical cooperation looks like - quiet work, real results.

Defence partnerships strengthen our resilience and underpin regional stability. Our Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines, signed in April 2025, enhances the New Zealand Defence Force's ability to train and operate with a key partner - building interoperability, lifting capability, and improving crisis response from humanitarian relief to maritime security. Our emergency-management partnerships reduce natural-hazard risk, protect communities, and keep economies running.

Our International Development Cooperation also supports the step-up. It advances shared priorities - renewable energy, climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, public-sector capability - and creates opportunities for New Zealand expertise. Scholarships bring outstanding students here; technical assistance and joint projects open doors to future commercial partnerships; and climate cooperation links our science and private sector to the region's green-economy transition.

In short: Southeast Asia advances New Zealand's prosperity, security, and resilience. It aligns with our Government's "Going for Growth" agenda - doubling export value, attracting investment, tackling non-tariff barriers, and lifting innovation. And it is a region where New Zealand is respected as a principled, practical, and reliable partner.

What have we achieved so far?

Since the reset, we have lifted our tempo and our ambition. We have undertaken 38 Prime Ministerial and Ministerial visits to Southeast Asia. These visits are not symbolic gestures. They are the hard yards of statecraft - building trust, unlocking market access, advancing security cooperation, and deepening people-to-people links. The return visits to New Zealand, and the growing flow of delegations and officials in both directions, confirm that the region welcomes a stronger New Zealand presence.

We'd like to highlight three tangible outcomes of this step-up.

First: Viet Nam. Marking 50 years, we elevated ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership - a serious, practical commitment to do more together. Prime Ministers have set a NZ$5 billion two-way trade target by the end of 2026; Climate Change Ministers signed a new arrangement; and officials are finalising a 2025-2030 Plan of Action including pillars in climate, science and technology, and defence, oceans and security. With growth around six per cent and a path to high-income status, Viet Nam has momentum - and New Zealand will be a reliable partner on that journey.

Second: Singapore. Marking 60 years, Prime Ministers Wong and Luxon launched our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership last Friday - lifting cooperation across trade and the economy, defence and security, science and innovation, people links, and resilient supply chains. Singapore is our largest Southeast Asian trading partner and a critical hub for Kiwi firms, with exports already above NZ$2.5 billion. The point is simple: two small states using trust, foresight, and the rule of law to set standards, connect supply chains, and create opportunity - by being reliable, creative, and prepared to do the work.

Third: ASEAN. Marking 50 years of ASEAN-New Zealand dialogue, we are deepening the partnership at pace. In July in Kuala Lumpur, Foreign Ministers endorsed a Leaders' Joint Vision Statement and tasked a new ASEAN-New Zealand Plan of Action - practical steps to support a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. We acknowledge Viet Nam as our ASEAN Country Coordinator and Malaysia's effective Chairmanship. ASEAN's weight will grow as Timor-Leste joins. Later this month in Kuala Lumpur, the Prime Minister will attend the Commemorative Leaders' Summit at which we expect to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with ASEAN under four pillars - Peace, People, Prosperity, and Planet - a clear signal that New Zealand will match words with action.

And we are not stopping there. In 2026 we will upgrade our relationships with Thailand and the Philippines. With Malaysia and Indonesia, we are exploring the best way to elevate our partnerships in the years ahead. Each upgrade is a political commitment backed by work plans, sector priorities, and measurable outcomes. Each one deepens our ties, creates opportunities for our businesses, and strengthens New Zealand's position in a region that matters to us.

How have we resourced this step-up?

Words are not enough. So we have acted.

We have added 22 new roles focused on Southeast Asia - new diplomats at our posts in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and the Philippines; new primary industry experts to advance market access, food safety, and agriculture cooperation; and new Business Development Managers in Singapore and the Philippines to help firms land deals, navigate regulations, and follow through after trade missions. NZTE support for New Zealand companies in the region is now better aligned with business interests and in step with other key markets.

Budget 2025 funded the Government's priorities to double export value and deepen relationships in Asia - lifting engagement with priority Southeast Asian partners; tackling non-tariff barriers; and implementing, leveraging, and expanding existing trade agreements. This is practical work - market access, standards, certification, digital trade, and services commitments - so Kiwi exporters and investors can compete on a level playing field.

MFAT has also established the Southeast Asia Growth Fund - $12 million over four years - to support targeted, cross-government activity. It ensures we can back the best ideas, at the right time, with the right partners. And we are increasing funding for ASEAN initiatives under our next Plan of Action (2026-2030), giving us the means as well as the mandate.

Tourism New Zealand has received an extra $6 million for international market development in emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia -expected to generate around $60 million in additional visitor spending.

Implementation: the year ahead

Delivery is the test. Our focus is threefold:

First, we will turn upgraded agreements into results and deeper capital flows. Through AANZFTA and new CSPs with Viet Nam, Singapore and soon ASEAN, we will cut behind-the-border barriers, open digital trade and services, and help Kiwi firms plug into regional value chains and scale. We will also lift two-way investment - quality capital into renewables, infrastructure, logistics and high-value manufacturing here; and into Kiwi firms expanding across Southeast Asia - under stable rules and clear, cooperative regulation.

Second, we will keep building the people-to-people fabric that sustains a long partnership. Scholarships bring the region's best students to New Zealand. Alumni networks, internships, and exchanges turn one-off experiences into life-long ties. Tourism and air connectivity bind our societies together. And our diaspora communities - New Zealanders with roots in Southeast Asia - are bridges of trust and practical know-how. We will invest further in those links.

Third, we will deepen security cooperation - maritime domain awareness, law enforcement, counter-terrorism, emergency management - anchored in international law and regional priorities. Our Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines shows how we lift capability together. Training with ASEAN partners at institutions like the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation builds networks that keep our communities safer. And our support for the rules-based order - the UN Charter and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - is not rhetoric; it is how small states protect their rights and resolve disputes peacefully.

That is the plan: trade and investment; people and skills; security and resilience - delivered through disciplined diplomacy and clear outcomes.

Closing reflections

Let us end where we began: with the logic of our foreign policy reset.

Our approach rests on three foundations. First, a realism that is underpinned by prudence. In an unsettled world, prudence is not passivity; it is judgment - knowing when to speak, how to speak, and when to hold our counsel.

Second, a conviction that diplomacy is the indispensable tool of a small state. Talking with each other - rather than at each other - is the lifeblood of international order. Understanding may not always produce agreement, but it creates opportunity. From diplomacy comes compromise; from compromise, the building blocks of peace.

Third, an unshakeable belief that small states matter, and that all states are equal in dignity and voice. That is not sentiment; it is the principle that protects us all.

It is fitting, then, to recall the 1967 Bangkok Declaration that founded ASEAN: the "collective will … to secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity." Peace, freedom, prosperity - those three words still map the horizon for our region, and they map New Zealand's ambition as well.

The world we face is demanding, but also full of opportunity. We have many friends, but no one owes New Zealand a living. We must chart our course, assert our priorities, and cultivate our partnerships. We must be present, reliable, and useful.

That is how we deliver a more secure, more prosperous New Zealand - and a better environment for your businesses to thrive.

That is the promise of the foreign policy reset - a sharper focus, a faster tempo, and a clearer link between what we do abroad and what that delivers at home. And that is the task we will carry forward: to deliver security and prosperity for all New Zealanders, now and for generations to come.

Thank you.