The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, welcomes the appointment of Mr. Phillip Gibson as New Zealand’s first Ambassador to ASEAN. Concurrently Mr. Gibson is the Ambassador of New Zealand to Indonesia. New Zealand is the third Dialogue Partner to appoint an Ambassador to ASEAN, following the United States and Australia.

Dr. Surin said, “I am looking forward to working with Mr. Gibson on enhancing cooperation between ASEAN and New Zealand, especially in trade and economic issues.  An even closer partnership will be forged when the recently-concluded ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA Agreement is signed.”

Incidentally, Mr. Gibson is the first Ambassador to ASEAN in residence in Jakarta.  He also is the longest-serving Ambassador to Indonesia among the current ambassadors of ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners.