New Zealand PM Luxon in Singapore for first Annual Leaders’ Meeting, supply chain pact signing

[SINGAPORE] New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is in Singapore for a three-day official visit, during which the two countries are expected to sign a landmark trade agreement and hold their first Annual Leaders’ Meeting.

Luxon will meet Singapore Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong on Monday (May 4) for the inaugural Annual Leaders’ Meeting, a mechanism that was established when the two nations upgraded their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) last October. 

The leaders will also hold a joint press conference later that day, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Sunday.

During the visit, PM Wong and Luxon will sign the Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies (Aotes), which covers food, fuel, healthcare, chemical and construction products. 

They will also open the Singapore-New Zealand Leadership Forum, a gathering of senior business leaders from the two countries and the broader South-east Asia region.

On Tuesday, Luxon will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet with Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng.

Growing closer

The visit builds on a relationship that has steadily grown closer in recent decades. Singapore and New Zealand have long shared common ground as small, trade-dependent economies that champion free trade and a rules-based international order.

Their bilateral ties were upgraded from an Enhanced Partnership to a CSP in October 2025 during PM Wong’s introductory visit to Wellington to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations. 

The CSP sets out more than 70 initiatives spanning six pillars: trade and economics; defence and security; science, technology and innovation; people-to-people ties; climate change and the green economy; as well as supply chains and connectivity.

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Luxon’s visit to Singapore is his second as prime minister, with his first trip in April 2024. He and PM Wong last met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November 2025.

The supply chain agreement that will be signed on Monday has its origins in the Covid-19 pandemic, when the two countries collaborated on air freight to keep essential goods moving between them. 

In that initiative, the Singapore-New Zealand Air Freight Project, New Zealand shipped eggs, fruit and meat to Singapore, while the city-state sent medical supplies in the other direction.

Described as the world’s first legally binding bilateral supply chain resilience agreement, Aotes formalises both countries’ commitment to not impose unnecessary export restrictions on agreed essential supplies.

It also establishes a framework for facilitating the movement of goods, sharing information, and holding consultations before or during supply chain disruptions. 

The agreement will be incorporated into the existing bilateral free trade agreement, the Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership, which entered into force in January 2001.

Economic and defence ties 

In 2025, New Zealand was Singapore’s 31st-largest goods trading partner, while Singapore ranked as New Zealand’s ninth-largest export destination and sixth-largest import source, based on data from Statistics New Zealand.

Agribusiness groups Wilmar and Olam are among the key Singapore investors with a presence in New Zealand. In Singapore, notable New Zealand investors include agriculture companies Fonterra and Zespri.

Defence cooperation also features prominently in the bilateral agenda. The Singapore Armed Forces have conducted training in New Zealand both independently and jointly with the New Zealand Defence Force.