The two countries’ 67 years of formal diplomatic relations is wide ranging, encompassing security, bilateral, political, trade, and economic links The relationship also includes regional issues of common interest, such as disarmament and climate change, as well as working closely together on environmental matters.
The three free trade agreements that are currently in effect between Thailand and New Zealand are the:New Zealand-Thailand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (NZTCEPA), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Since the NZTCEPA came into force in 2005, total New
Zealand exports to Thailand have more than tripled.Tariffs and quotas on all exports will be progressively eliminated before the end of 2025.As members of the AANZFTA since 2010, this agreement has improved opportunities and access for New Zealand service providers in Thailand, particularly in the education sector.
New Zealand and Thailand are both signatories to RCEP. It came into force in January 2022 and provides commercial benefits for New Zealand goods exporters. RCEP also lowers compliance costs, reduces the time exporters wait for goods to clear customs, and enhances transparency and predictability for businesses in the RCEP region.
Thailand is New Zealand’s 8th largest trading partner, with the total trade in goods between the two countries showing an annual growth rate of about 8 percent. Although the value of the exports to Thailand fluctuates from year to year, since the Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) came into force in 2005, total exports have almost doubled. New Zealand is now also importing twice as much from Thailand as it did before the CEP.
New Zealand's goods exports to Thailand reached a total annual value of just over NZ$1 billion in 2021. Top export categories for 2021 were dairy, fruit, aluminium, wood pulp and medical ventilators.
The main products that New Zealand imports fromThailand are delivery trucks ($694M), cars ($287M), and air conditioners ($165M). During the last 26 years the exports of Thailand to New Zealand have increased at an annualised rate of 12 percent from $111M in 1995 to $2.11B in 2021.