New Zealand Prime Minister at East Asia Summit

Prime Minister John Key at the East Asia Summit

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, and New Zealand Ambassador to ASEAN, David Taylor, were in Viet Nam for the 5th East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Hanoi in recently.

The EAS confirmed ASEAN's plans to bring Russia and the United States into the group which includes the 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) together with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

During the summit, New Zealand was thanked by ASEAN leaders for its steadfast support over the years at a Commemorate Summit, held to celebrate 35 years of dialogue partnership between New Zealand and ASEAN.

Prime Minister Key affirmed that ASEAN “has a central role in shaping the region and in promoting closer regional integration.”
He also sketched out the new stepped up relationship developed over the last year, building on a new vision statement, a five-year action plan and four flagship projects that Mr McCully has developed with his ASEAN counterparts.