New Zealand eyes closer Türkiye ties with Asia Anew economic initiative

New Zealand is ready to share its experience with Ankara about diplomatic expansion in the wider Asia-Pacific region, according to its top diplomat to Türkiye.

“We stand ready to share with Türkiye, our experiences in that regard,” Zoe Coulson-Sinclair said in an interview with published by Anadolu Agency on Sunday. She was referring to Türkiye’s Asia Anew diplomatic and business initiative.

Türkiye launched the Asia Anew initiative in 2019 to “further enhance its relations with Asia, which is becoming the world’s economic centre, in multiple dimensions.”

The initiative is seen by experts as a step toward reshaping the future diplomacy of Türkiye, a country that straddles two continents and “is a bridge between the East and the West.”

A large country like Türkiye, said Coulson-Sinclair, “can't ignore the rise of Asia — with growing significance.”

“New Zealand has invested an incredible amount in the last 30 years to make sure that it is very linked into the wider Asia Pacific region as a small country, dependent on trade — connectivity is everything for us,” said New Zealand’s top diplomat in Türkiye, recalling Wellington was the second country to recognise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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'Diversity of economic engagement'

Coulson-Sinclair said Türkiye and New Zealand have “diversity of economic engagement,” calling it “exciting.”

Recalling her engagements with Turkish business houses including Türkiye’s Foreign Economic Relations Board, Istanbul Chamber of Industry, and Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MUSIAD), Coulson-Sinclair said she visited Gaziantep and Sanliurfa where she met companies that are cooperating with New Zealand.

“The range of areas where this collaboration is taking place kind of knocked my socks off really — there are New Zealand chemicals that have been used in the TURKOVAC,” said the ambassador.

TURKOVAC is a coronavirus vaccine that is produced in Türkiye.

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Collaborations in the various areas

Pointing to collaborations in the tourism industry, Coulson-Sinclair said a New Zealand-made electric bike “is the new means of having fun at these Turkish water resorts.”

“This New Zealand technology, a very cool thing that is very popular around the South Pacific and is now making a splash here at Antalya,” she said about the hydrofoil bike used by water skiers in Türkiye’s southern coastal province.

“We’ve got really interesting collaborations happening in the agricultural space with New Zealand high-tech machinery being used to help farmers manage climate effects.

“Really, it’s some sort of many and varied — it’s been very exciting to see that so I’m hoping that through, you know, greater profile raising of this kind of collaboration we can explore even more opportunities in the economic space,” she said.

Coulson-Sinclair said New Zealand companies understand “very well” the important geopolitical location of Türkiye.

“They understand this better than we do. There are really exciting initiatives already underway, where Türkiye is being used as a manufacturing hub,” she said, referring to partnerships between companies from the two countries.

She said New Zealand’s “high-quality raw product is being imported” to Türkiye and then after “producing a very high-quality product, which they are then in a combined way, exported to one of the third markets that Türkiye’s amazing geographic location gives them access to.”

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