The Thailand New Zealand Roadmap to Strategic Partnership 2024 2026

On 17 April 2024, during an official visit to the Kingdom of Thailand by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin of the Kingdom of Thailand and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand agreed to elevate the New Zealand-Thailand bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026 - the 70th anniversary of bilateral relations between our two countries.

On 11 October 2024, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the Kingdom of Thailand and Prime Minister Luxon reconfirmed this commitment to elevate the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026.

This decision represents the mutual intent of the Kingdom of Thailand and New Zealand to advance the relationship in ways that deliver further real benefits and advance our shared interests. The Leaders directed their Foreign Ministers and officials to put in place a Roadmap to guide the establishment of the Strategic Partnership.

During their meeting on 19 October 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, Maris Sangiampongsa, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, Winston Peters, discussed the enduring friendship between both countries, reiterated their mutual desire to elevate the relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026, and discussed steps towards this objective. They agreed that the Strategic Partnership would consist of cooperation across four pillars: Political and Security; Economy, Trade and Innovation; Culture and People-to-People; and Regional and Multilateral.

During the first in a renewed series of Joint Ministerial Consultations on 13 December 2024 in Auckland, the two Ministers of Foreign Affairs adopted this Roadmap to the Strategic Partnership.

This Roadmap sets out the intended process towards the Strategic Partnership and the expected milestones to achieve the Strategic Partnership by 2026 as directed by Leaders.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will monitor progress towards achieving the milestones outlined in this Roadmap. Progress will be assessed periodically over the period 2024-2026.

Full implementation of the New Zealand-Thailand Closer Economic Partnership

1 January 2025 will see the full entry into force of the New Zealand-Thailand Closer Economic Partnership (NZTCEP), nearly 20 years after it entered into force. The NZTCEP has been instrumental in tripling two-way trade between the Kingdom of Thailand and New Zealand since 2005. The full implementation is a milestone that New Zealand and Thailand will consider how to celebrate. The NZTCEP, alongside the other trade agreements to which New Zealand and Thailand are both party including the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Agreement (AANZFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), will form the basis for deeper economic and trade cooperation as we work to triple two-way trade again over the next 20 years, as agreed by Prime Minister Srettha and Prime Minister Luxon in April 2024

Senior Officials Talks

New Zealand will host the Thai Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Secretary-level 'Senior Officials Talks' as early as practicable in 2025. These talks will be focused on discussions towards the 'Plan of Action' which will set out the lines of effort under the four pillars of the Strategic Partnership.

Ahead of the Senior Officials Talks the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will provide a zero draft of the proposed Plan of Action elements for the 'Political and Security' and 'Economy, Trade, and Innovation' pillars. Concurrently, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide a zero draft of the proposed Plan of Action elements for the 'Culture and People-to-People' and 'Regional and Multilateral' pillars.

Further Negotiations on the Plan of Action and drafting of a Joint Declaration

Following the Senior Officials Talks, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs will exchange further proposals for the draft Plan of Action until both sides are mutually satisfied, by no later than the end of September 2025. It is anticipated that the New Zealand Foreign Minister will make a bilateral visit to Thailand around September 2025 to support this.

Following the Senior Officials Talks New Zealand will propose a zero draft of a 'Joint Declaration on the Thailand - New Zealand Strategic Partnership', to be negotiated between the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in parallel to the Plan of Action.

Domestic processes

Following the satisfactory conclusion of negotiations on the Plan of Action and the Joint Declaration, New Zealand and Thailand will go through their respective domestic processes to enable our two countries to enter into the Strategic Partnership by 2026.

Prime Ministerial Summit, 2026

To mark 70 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand, New Zealand and Thailand have committed to enter into the Strategic Partnership in 2026. It is envisaged that this milestone would be marked by a Prime Ministerial Summit, at a date and location to be mutually agreed. This Summit would formally adopt the Joint Declaration, the Plan of Action, and set appropriate mechanisms to review the Strategic Partnership to ensure its ongoing relevance.

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