Myanmar

Our relationship with Myanmar

The New Zealand Government has made clear its condemnation of the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, and remains deeply concerned about the ongoing violence against civilians, atrocities and human rights violations including sexual and gender-based violence, discrimination of religious and ethnic groups, and the restriction of fundamental freedoms in Myanmar. 

New Zealand has continued to call for the return to civilian government and the release of all those arbitrarily detained.

Following the coup, New Zealand has implemented measures aimed at pressuring the regime towards a return to civilian government. These include: 

• suspension of high-level political and defence engagement with the regime;
• travel bans on individuals associated with the coup and/or human rights abuses in Myanmar;
• ensuring New Zealand’s international development cooperation programme does not benefit the regime or entities/individuals linked to it; and
• that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will not enter into force between New Zealand and Myanmar.

Development cooperation and sustainability

New Zealand’s International Development Cooperation programme continues to support Myanmar with a focus on peace and security, food security and agriculture and knowledge and skills development.

Trade and investment

New Zealand and Myanmar are both party to the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), which means tariffs are less than 15% for most products.

Information about New Zealand's trade with Myanmar is available on the New Zealand Trade Dashboard(external link).

Embassies

• New Zealand is represented in Myanmar by the New Zealand Embassy.
• Myanmar is accredited to New Zealand by the Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.