Thailand PM Anutin to Visit New Zealand, Formalise Strategic Partnership

The visit, which runs from Thursday, August 20 to Saturday, August 22, marks 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and will be used to formally launch the New Zealand-Thailand Strategic Partnership.

"The visit marks 70 years of diplomatic relations and will be used to formally launch the New Zealand-Thailand Strategic Partnership," Luxon said. "It will strengthen trade and business connections between our two countries, as we both work towards the shared goal of tripling two-way trade by 2045."

According to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two prime ministers are scheduled to sign the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership between the Kingdom of Thailand and New Zealand, formally elevating bilateral relations to that status. The leaders will also witness the signing of cooperation documents aimed at strengthening economic and social security and building the capacity of Thai personnel, particularly in education, culture and police cooperation.

Luxon emphasised the scale of the trading relationship already in place between the two nations. "Thailand is ASEAN's third-largest economy and one of New Zealand's top 10 trading partners," he said. "Our two-way trade reached almost NZ$4.8 billion in the year to March 2026, including NZ$1.6 billion in New Zealand exports."

He added that the relationship extends beyond commerce. "Thailand is also an important partner for New Zealand on regional stability and combatting transnational serious and organised crime," Luxon said. "I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Anutin and discussing how we can deliver greater prosperity and security for both our countries."

While in Auckland, Prime Minister Anutin will take part in a series of engagements, including bilateral talks with Luxon, a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters, and a business roundtable with Minister for Trade and Investment Todd McClay and senior New Zealand and Thai business leaders. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the New Zealand leg is aimed at promoting bilateral trade and investment and further strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.

The visit carries considerable diplomatic weight. It is Prime Minister Anutin's first official visit to New Zealand since taking office, and the first visit by a Thai prime minister to New Zealand in 13 years.

Prime Minister Anutin will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow, who is joining the wider trip.

Anutin Charnvirakul visited New Zealand in 2018 as leader of Bhumjaithai, Thailand’s third-largest political party. During his visit, he spoke to the Asia Media Centre in March 2018 as part of a programme supported by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to deepen understanding of New Zealand among “key influencers” in Thailand.

A relationship built over seven decades

Diplomatic ties between the two countries date back to 1956, and the relationship has grown steadily beyond trade into education, tourism and people-to-people links.

New Zealand is currently Thailand's eighth-largest trading partner, and the Thailand-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, signed in 2005, has been a key driver of that growth, with bilateral trade already tripling since it came into force. New Zealand exports dairy products, meat and wood to Thailand, while Thailand exports automotive parts, electronics and seafood to New Zealand.

Education has long been a pillar of the relationship. Thailand was New Zealand's fifth-largest source of international students in 2024, with 2,840 enrolments, and thousands of Thai students have studied in New Zealand over the decades, dating back to Colombo Plan scholarships in the 1950s. New Zealand is also home to an estimated 13,000 Thai nationals, a community that both governments have pointed to as a foundation for deeper cultural and educational cooperation.

Tourism forms another growing strand of the relationship. Before the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 50,000 New Zealanders were travelling to Thailand each year, with Thai visitor numbers to New Zealand also on the rise. The two countries have previously discussed visa facilitation and the resumption of direct flights as ways to support tourism recovery, alongside ambitions to grow visitor numbers in both directions.

The push towards a Strategic Partnership has been building since at least April 2024, when Luxon became the first New Zealand prime minister to make an official visit to Thailand in 11 years.

That visit, hosted by then-Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, produced agreements spanning political, security, economic, cultural, educational, and science and technology cooperation, and set the goal of tripling two-way trade by 2045, the same target reiterated by Luxon this week. It also flagged cooperation in areas such as agri-tech, smart farming, food-tech, renewable energy, precision medicine and digital technology, alongside New Zealand's support for Thailand's bids to join the OECD and the UN Human Rights Council.

Beyond bilateral ties, the two countries have also cooperated closely in multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the East Asia Summit, reflecting shared interests as advocates of international legal and trade rules in the Indo-Pacific region.

The New Zealand visit follows engagements in Australia, where Prime Minister Anutin met with the Australian Prime Minister, engaged Thai and Australian business leaders, and signed joint statements on transnational crime and economic engagement as part of the same regional trip, which began on August 17. It was his first official visit to Australia since taking office, and the first by a Thai prime minister in 14 years.

-Asia Media Centre