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New Zealand FM to mark four decades of ASEAN partnership

Xinhua, August 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murrary McCully is to mark 40th anniversary of the country's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Malaysia this week.

McCully said Tuesday he would attend the ASEAN-NZ Ministerial Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the 22nd ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur.

"This year we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of New Zealand's formal partnership with ASEAN," McCully said in a statement.

"ASEAN is vitally important to New Zealand. If ASEAN were a single country, it would be the third most populous in the world, the fourth biggest exporter and the seventh largest in terms of GDP," he said.

"The ASEAN grouping is becoming a principal hub for world commerce and plays a key role in maintaining regional peace and stability," said McCully.

"The East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum play an important role in addressing the political and security challenges facing our region, such as maritime security, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and disaster response." Endi