03 Nov 2014
03-Nov-2014
Source: ASEAN Secretariat News
New Zealand Accredits First Dedicated Ambassador to ASEAN
Jakarta, 3 November 2014 - H.E. Ms. Stephanie Pamela Lee presented her Letter of Credence today to H.E. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN at the ASEAN Secretariat, and hence officially assumed her position as the first dedicated Ambassador of New Zealand to ASEAN. Ambassador Lee stressed that the appointment of a dedicated Ambassador to ASEAN and New Zealand's plan to establish a separate mission to ASEAN next year, demonstrate the country's firm commitment to further deepen ties with ASEAN.
Secretary-General Minh congratulated Ambassador Lee on her assumption of office and looked forward to working closely with her to further deepen the dialogue relations between ASEAN and New Zealand, including the implementation of the current ASEAN-New Zealand Comprehensive Partnership Plan of Action (2010-2015).
Ambassador Lee highlighted the strong interest of New Zealand to contribute to the ASEAN Economic Community building process. She assured New Zealand's commitment to support ASEAN Member States in the implementation of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) agreement, and looked forward to the conclusion of the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by 2015.
Secretary-General Minh and Ambassador Lee took note of the upcoming Commemorative Summit in 2015 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue Relations as a good opportunity for both sides to review past achievements and discuss ways and means to bring more successes and benefit to the partnership. They noted the potentials for pursuing cooperation in other areas such as in gender-related issues, climate change, food trade, youth cooperation, and people-to-people exchange, among others.
On this occasion, Secretary-General Minh expressed appreciation to Ambassador David Taylor, who was also present at the presentation of credentials, for his meaningful contribution to enhancing the ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue Relations over his three-year tenure as Ambassador of New Zealand to ASEAN, and wished him the very best for his future endeavours.