SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reconnected with New Zealand Premier Christopher Luxon over the phone on Jan 31, and said he looks forward to working closely with Mr Luxon to strengthen cooperation between both countries.

“Our relationship with New Zealand is close and longstanding,” said PM Lee in a Facebook post on Jan 31.

“Singapore is New Zealand’s fifth-largest trading partner. We cooperate closely on supply chain resilience and the green economy, and started the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement together with Chile,” he said.

“I congratulated PM Luxon on his appointment as PM, and look forward to working closely with him to strengthen cooperation between Singapore and New Zealand, both bilaterally and regionally,” PM Lee added.

PM Lee had congratulated Mr Luxon in October 2023 for leading his centre-right National Party to victory in New Zealand’s elections.

The former chief executive of Air New Zealand was sworn in as the country’s prime minister in November 2023.

In his Facebook post on Jan 31, Mr Luxon thanked PM Lee for “a warm and productive call”.

“I am excited about building on our already close friendship with Singapore: We will do more together to advance our economic, security and sustainability goals for the region,” Mr Luxon said.