The Right Honourable John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand, will pay an Official Visit to the Kingdom of Thailand as Guest of the Royal Thai Government from 17 to 20 November 2013. This marks the first Official Visit to Thailand by a New Zealand Prime Minister in eight years. 

During the visit, Prime Minister John Key will meet with Her Excellency Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the two Leaders will exchange views on ways to enhance further the close relations between New Zealand and Thailand. Following up on the discussions during the Thai Prime Minister’s Official Visit to New Zealand this past March, the two sides are expected to focus on areas such as promotion of trade, investment and tourism as well as bilateral cooperation on education, science technology and innovation (STI) and trilateral cooperation, to name a few. To promote closer business links between the two countries, Prime Minister Key will bring with him some 30 leading representatives of the New Zealand private sector.

As a reflection of the importance that the two countries attach to international cooperation on regional and global issues of common interest, Prime Minister John Key will join Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other Leaders at the Connect Asia-Pacific Summit 2013 in Bangkok hosted by Thailand and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to promote cooperation in information and communication technology.

Thailand and New Zealand established their diplomatic relations on 26 March 1956.  In 2012, trade volume between Thailand and New Zealand was estimated around 50 billion baht (1,630 million USD). People-to-people links between the two countries are also strong. There are approximately 100,000 New Zealand tourists visiting Thailand each year, while 17,000 Thais travel to New Zealand and about 3,100 Thai students studying in New Zealand.