Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs

New Zealand and Sri Lanka have committed to further boost bilateral cooperation, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.

“Our governments are investing more in ties between Sri Lanka and New Zealand because we want to get more out of them, for the mutual benefit of our peoples,” Mr Peters says, at the conclusion of his visit to Colombo.

“Across a wide range of domains – including education, tourism, agriculture, trade, security and sport - New Zealand and Sri Lanka share an appetite to do more together.”

While in Colombo, Mr Peters held discussions with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath. Mr Peters’ visit is the first by a New Zealand Foreign Minister to Sri Lanka since 2013. It follows the opening of the New Zealand High Commission in Colombo in 2021 and the Sri Lankan High Commission in Wellington in early 2025.

“As trade-dependent island nations, New Zealand and Sri Lanka have much in common. During my visit, we discussed with Sri Lanka’s leaders how to strengthen capability development, share technical expertise, and increase mutually beneficial trade,” Mr Peters says.

“We also shared views on the increasingly uncertain and disordered global environment and the interconnected challenges of development, trade and security in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Mr Peters and Foreign Minister Herath discussed the rapidly growing people-to-people connections between the countries. Mr Peters also announced places on short term training courses for Sri Lankan officials and launched a Sustainable Water and Livelihoods project.

Sri Lanka was the second of four destinations on this ongoing tour, following Australia. Mr Peters travels to Nepal today.

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