Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs

New Zealand and Malaysia intend to intensify their long-standing, deep connections, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.

“Malaysia is one of New Zealand’s oldest friends in South-East Asia – and both countries intend to get more out of the relationship," Mr Peters says.

"Our connections already run deep and there are many opportunities for New Zealand and Malaysia to further enhance our partnership in the areas of defence and security, people-to-people links, science and technology, and trade and economic engagement,” Mr Peters says.

During his visit to Malaysia, Mr Peters held the inaugural annual Foreign Ministers Meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Mohamad Hasan, while also meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof and Leader of the Opposition Hamzah Zainudin.

"It was an absolute honour to re-connect with Prime Minister Anwar, who has been a long-standing friend of New Zealand. We were able to reflect on the changes our countries, our region and indeed the world have undergone in the quarter-century since we last served together in high political office in the 1990s.

“My discussions with Minister Hasan reviewed the progress we have made towards the Malaysia-New Zealand Strategic Partnership over its first year and identified areas where we can do more together in the period ahead."

During the visit, Mr Peters also paid his respects at Malaysia's National Mosque (Masjid Negara). In his capacity as Minister of Racing, he toured Selangor Turf Club to learn more about the country's racing industry and promote New Zealand as a producer of bloodstock. This evening, he will also meet a group of senior Malaysians in government, business and education who studied in New Zealand.

The Malaysian and New Zealand Foreign Ministers released a Joint Statement following their talks, which can be found here.

Malaysia is the second of four countries in Mr Peters' ongoing South East Asia visit, following Viet Nam and to be followed by Philippines and Timor-Leste.

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