New Zealand and ASEAN at 50: new reports examine five decades of ties
2025 marks 50 years since New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began formal dialogue relations. To mark this anniversary, the Foundation has commissioned a series of reports looking at the various ways the relationship has broadened and deepened over the past five decades – as well as the regional dynamics shaping the nature of this engagement.
The unveiling of the official logo for the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-New Zealand dialogue relations
Founded against the backdrop of the Viet Nam War in August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the primary objective was to promote political and economic cooperation, as well as regional stability, amid the Cold War's ideological divisions and ongoing regional conflicts.
The Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia viewed the formation of ASEAN as an effective way to present a united front against communism and appease fears of communist insurgencies both within and from neighbouring nations.
When New Zealand and ASEAN held their first dialogue meeting in Singapore in 1975, New Zealand’s interests too were security focused. But what began as a relationship centered largely on bolstering regional stability has, in the intervening five decades, grown into a rich and multifaceted relationship characterised by diplomatic, economic, political and people-to-people ties.
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew meeting with with then New Zealand Prime Minister Bill Rowling in April 1975, watched on by soon-to-be prime minister Robert Muldoon
ASEAN membership itself has also expanded to 10 member states with Brunei Darussalam joining in 1984, Viet Nam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. Timor-Leste is expected to become the 11th member in October 2025.
New Zealand and ASEAN Through 50 Years
The first of these reports, authored by historian Dr Malcolm McKinnon, looks at the diplomatic history of the relationship and its evolution since the end of end of the Cold War. As McKinnon writes, while the importance of New Zealand’s relationship with ASEAN “may be taken for granted in 2025 it was not foreordained, and certainly not in 1975 when the partnership was first established”.
The regional grouping, McKinnon observes, “provides an irreplaceable platform for regional diplomacy, the fostering of regional stability, networking with great powers, and advancing interests and values which New Zealand shares with both ASEAN and its member states”.
Southeast Asia's Security in the Era of Strategic Competition
The second report, by Otago-based Dr Nicholas Khoo, examines the shifting geopolitics of the region. How do the policies of the great powers (the United States and China), regional powers (Australia and Japan), and two returning powers (Russia and the United Kingdom) present challenges, risks and opportunities for Southeast Asia? Dr Khoo finds that while these powers present “complex challenges” for ASEAN member states, ASEAN, like New Zealand, “can exercise its agency in navigating these changes”.
Southeast Asia's Security in the Era of Strategic Competition report to be published shortly
Relations and Relationships: 50 Years of People Movements from ASEAN Countries to New Zealand
In the final installment of the series, Dr Kate McMillan and Foundation Research Programme manager Alex Smith take a closer look at the movement of people from Southeast Asia to New Zealand.
From the first Malaysian recipients of the Colombo Plan scholarships to refugees from Myanmar; international students from Thailand and New Zealand’s rapidly growing Filipino population, people flows from ASEAN to New Zealand are diverse and multilayered. People ties have played a vital role in enriching New Zealand’s relationships with ASEAN countries, influencing New Zealand’s own demographic makeup and shaping New Zealanders' understandings of the region and its importance to New Zealand’s future.
Relations and Relationships: 50 Years of People Movements from ASEAN Countries to New Zealand report to be published shortly
The Foundation's Research Programme publishes surveys, reports, and insights briefs relating to all aspects of New Zealand’s relationships with and interests in Asia. We also provide grants to emerging scholars with Asia-related research interests.
