How did PM Christopher Luxon perform on Southeast Asian business mission? - The Front Page

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong during a weeklong business mission to Southeast Asia. Photo / AP

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has spent the past week in Southeast Asia.

His first overseas trip beyond Australia saw Luxon visit Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines in an attempt to deepen New Zealand’s international ties. The trip marked the first visit to Thailand by a New Zealand prime minister in 11 years, and the first to the Philippines in 14 years.

With a couple of MPs and a business delegation in tow, Luxon spent the week dining and dancing on the sidelines of high-level meetings.

Fran O’Sullivan, NZME managing business editor and managing director of NZ Inc Ltd, was part of the business delegation and told The Front Page that for Luxon, the trip has been about growing relationships.

“He has made a very good debut on the international stage.

“What he wants to do is establish the personal relationships with these leaders, as well as the country-to-country relationships, because it’s the personal relationships which inform what happens over time.”

There were no major economic agreements reached. New Zealand and Singapore agreed to add “supply chains and connectivity” to an existing partnership agreement, while the brief stop in Thailand saw a broader commitment to expand trade.

The biggest agreement was reached Friday, with a deal between New Zealand and the Philippines around defence co-operation.

O’Sullivan said there were commitments reached on future agreements, including a loose 2026 deadline with Thailand.

The trip comes off the back of growing concern that New Zealand is overly reliant on Australia and China for international trade.

O’Sullivan said there is a lot of potential and new opportunities from expanding our business opportunities in Southeast Asia, particularly for the food and beverage market.

“Everybody sees Southeast Asia as containing markets that will grow over time, they have middle-class consumers who are going to get richer in their own right.

“It’s China-plus as far as New Zealand is concerned. China is obviously a very critical market for New Zealand, but if we are to grow, we need to grow into more markets and become more global.”

Overall, she believes Luxon had a strong performance and seemed to build strong relationships with his counterparts in all three countries, but the biggest challenge is more long-term in how the government approaches business.

“[Luxon] still feels that New Zealand, particularly when it comes to business, is far too tactical and how we approach international markets and that we need to be more strategic.

“So I imagine when he gets back, he will probably be digesting with his officials and key business people from the trip, what sort of strategic plans we should have for the future in just getting out there and growing the economy because if we are going to grow wealth for our nation and have careers for people to stage, to stay home and stage their own lives, we really need to be doing a heck of a lot better.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Luxon’s Southeast Asia trip and what local leaders thought of him.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.