Friends and Allies
impacts of returning Asian students
on New Zealand-Asia relationships


Asian students who studied in New Zealand under the Colombo Plan hold a particularly nostalgic place in New Zealand’s collective memory.

Likewise, contemporary Asian students who return to Asia will draw upon their social and
educational experiences in New Zealand. Asian students, while they are in New Zealand and once they have returned to their countries of origin, have much to offer New Zealand. Yet despite decades of Asian immigration and Asian students, New Zealand’s “Asian” literacy remains poor.