NZ and Thailand launch Strategic Partnership, eye tripled trade
Last Updated on August 24, 2026
New Zealand and Thailand have formally launched a Strategic Partnership, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul signing off the agreement during a visit to Auckland.
According to Beehive.govt.nz, the two leaders issued a Joint Declaration and welcomed a Joint Plan of Action covering 2026 to 2030, setting out cooperation across political and security ties, trade and innovation, people-to-people links, and regional cooperation.
A trade target of $13.5 billion
The centrepiece of the announcement is an ambition to triple two-way trade between the two countries to NZ$13.5 billion by 2045. Luxon said Thailand’s manufacturing capability and regional connections offered “significant opportunities” for New Zealand exporters, and pointed to plans to upgrade the existing trade agreement and strengthen supply-chain resilience.
He framed Thailand as a potential gateway for New Zealand businesses into the wider ASEAN market, which he described as having more than 600 million consumers.
Direct flights set to return
Among the more immediate, tangible outcomes flagged in the announcement is Thai Airways’ plan to resume direct flights between Bangkok and Auckland within the next year. The airline previously served the route for more than three decades before suspending it during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Luxon said the restored service would make travel between the two countries easier, re-establish an air-freight link, and improve onward connections through Bangkok to other parts of Asia. For Auckland, which lost the direct route during the pandemic, the resumption would mark a return of a long-standing link for both travellers and freight operators.
Security and border cooperation
Beyond trade, the two governments agreed to deepen cooperation on border security, customs, immigration and cyber security. The Beehive statement also specifically mentions joint efforts against scam centres, human trafficking and drug trafficking, with Luxon saying the work would help keep New Zealanders safer both at home and while travelling abroad.
Luxon described the visit as building on what he called 70 years of friendship, trust and close connections between the two countries. The Joint Declaration and the accompanying Joint Plan of Action are intended to guide the relationship over the next five years, though the Beehive release does not detail specific milestones or funding commitments beyond the trade target and the flight resumption.
Source: Beehive.govt.nz.
Photo: “Air NZ 747 ZK-NBU” by Simon_sees, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse.
