Speech by President S R Nathan at the State Banquet hosted by the Governor General of New Zealand The Hon Anand Satyanand

Your Excellency, The Honourable Anand Satyanand, Governor-General of New Zealand
Mrs Susan Satyanand
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

1        Let me begin by saying how delighted and honoured my wife and I are to be visiting your beautiful country.  I recall hosting the State visit to Singapore in June 2005 of Your Excellency's predecessor, Her Excellency Dame Silvia Cartwright.  I am glad to reciprocate by making this visit, which I believe is the first by a Singapore Head of State to New Zealand.  Besides the exchange of State visits, there have been visits of our respective Prime Ministers over the years, as well as that of Cabinet Ministers, reflecting the depth and breadth of our warm and excellent bilateral relations.

Your Excellency,

2        New Zealand's ties with Singapore predate our independence in 1965.  New Zealand Forces helped defend Singapore during the Second World War and later during the Communist Emergency.  We were reminded of the sacrifices they made during the commemoration of ANZAC Day last Friday and my visit to the National War Memorial this morning.  Singapore-New Zealand relations have grown from strength to strength since the establishment of diplomatic relations just after Singapore's independence.

3        This good partnership of ours is best reflected in our earlier bonding through our defence relations.  This long history of close defence cooperation dates back to Singapore's early days as an independent nation.  Today, New Zealand provides training facilities for the Singapore Armed Forces, which we deeply appreciate and value.  The Singapore Armed Forces has also benefited from working together with the New Zealand Defence Force in peace support missions.  In Timor-Leste in 2001, an SAF peacekeeping platoon operated as part of the New Zealand battalion.  Last year, SAF doctors and engineers worked alongside their New Zealand counterparts as part of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.  Singapore also fully appreciates the valuable contributions that New Zealand makes as a committed member of the Five Power Defence Arrangements, which enhances Singapore's security as well as that of our region in Southeast Asia.

4        Our relations today are multi-faceted and built on a solid foundation of cooperation in the political, economic, and defence fields.  It is a relationship grounded both in genuine friendship and trust as well as in common strategic perspectives and economic interests.

5        The warm and close ties between our two countries are reflected in the openness of the exchanges between leaders and senior officials of the two sides.  As small countries, both New Zealand and Singapore also recognise the need to make a stand when our interests are at stake, even against more dominant states.  As small states, both our countries also recognise the importance of a stable and open international order; hence we have played an active role in multilateral forums.  Just as Singapore took an active role in advocating for the cause of landlocked and geographically disadvantaged states during the negotiations on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the 1970s, New Zealand has been leading the push by the Cairns Group of countries in the WTO to liberalise agricultural trade.

6        Both our countries have consistently advocated the importance of a free and open global economy.  The Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership, which came into effect in 2001, was the first bilateral FTA for Singapore and for New Zealand, the first with another country after Australia.  We have also partnered in bringing about another milestone FTA, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership or P4.  Along with our APEC partners Chile and Brunei, the P4 is the first plurilateral FTA linking Asia, Oceania and Latin America.  The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA which is targeted for conclusion next month is the next on our respective economic agenda.  With a combined market of about 600 million people, this FTA will bring significant economic benefits to the businesses and peoples of ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand.

7        As cosmopolitan and multi-cultural nations, our countries have extended to migrants of diverse backgrounds and talents a welcome that has added vibrancy to our character and strength to our conviction.  I am told that almost 10% of New Zealanders are of Asian descent.  This is a natural development as New Zealand cements its place in Asia.  It is testament to the openness and strength of both our societies that we have enabled our people, regardless of ancestry, to progress and aspire to occupy positions of importance in various fields, both in the private sector and in government.  In this regard, Your Excellency and I are both examples of this feature of our two countries, having attained the highest office in our respective countries.

Your Excellency,

8 New Zealand and Singapore have both benefited from our warm ties of friendship and close cooperation in various areas of our economic and social endeavour.  New Zealand is an integral part of our region and has continued to engage the region actively – which is something Singapore highly appreciates and supports.  Singapore looks forward to ever deeper and broader bilateral ties and cooperation with New Zealand.

 Thank you.