List of diplomatic missions of New Zealand

This is a list of diplomatic missions of New Zealand. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZMFAT) is responsible for nearly fifty embassies and consulates globally. The country is particularly active in the South Pacific, as well as in Asia and South America where it is expanding its commercial reach.

Countries hosting New Zealand diplomatic missions

As New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, its diplomatic missions in the capitals of fellow member-states are called High Commissions, as opposed to embassies.

This listing excludes honorary consulates and trade offices, except for the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei, which serves as a de facto embassy to Taiwan.

History

New Zealand independence was a gradual process, and the establishment of an independent New Zealand diplomatic service was similarly gradual. At first, New Zealand's foreign affairs were handled by the United Kingdom, and the only diplomacy conducted by the colonial government in New Zealand were negotiations with the British authorities. Relations between New Zealand and Britain were handled by an Agent-General in London, with the first being appointed in 1871. The title was changed to High Commissioner in 1905, reflecting the increasing autonomy of New Zealand.

It was not until World War II, however, that New Zealand sent permanent diplomatic missions to other countries. To facilitate co-ordination of the war effort New Zealand established several posts in countries with which it was allied—the first was a legation in the United States in 1941. In 1942 and 1943, high commissions were opened in Ottawa and Canberra respectively, and in 1944, a legation was established in the Soviet Union. The latter was considered a striking departure from New Zealand's previous diplomatic activities—enthusiasm for the post was strongest in the governing Labour Party, and the opposition National Party later made its closure one of their campaign policies.

The opening of these posts prompted New Zealand to establish its own foreign ministry, the Department of External Affairs. Created by the External Affairs Act in June 1943, the new department incorporated an older office of the same name (dealing with island territories) and those sections of the Prime Minister's office which had previously co-ordinated diplomacy.

In 1947, a resident trade representative was appointed in Japan, followed by the establishment of legations in Paris (1949) and The Hague (1950). By the late 1950s, these three posts, along with Washington, had been upgraded to embassies —. However, fulfilling its promise the Moscow post was closed in 1950 by the new National Party government. From 1955 to 1961, a string of new missions opened in Asia—Singapore, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. When Samoa obtained its independence from New Zealand in 1962, it became the first Pacific Island state to host a New Zealand diplomatic post.

The mid-1960s saw a cluster of new posts opening in Europe, with new missions in Belgium, Greece, Germany and Italy. A post was also opened in South Vietnam due to the ongoing conflict there, although this did not last beyond the end of the Vietnam War. A post was established in the Cook Islands after they obtained self-government from New Zealand, becoming New Zealand's second mission in the south Pacific.

The 1970s and 1980s were a time of continued expansion for NZMFAT. In 1973, the Labour government of Norman Kirk reopened its embassy in the Soviet Union and opened an embassy in the People's Republic of China. However it was in the Pacific where New Zealand's representation rapidly expanded as several countries gained independence, including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Tonga, and Vanuatu. Frequently New Zealand was the first country to establish a mission in these states. New Zealand also expanded into the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere in Asia.

The early 1990s were a time of substantial reorganisation of New Zealand's diplomatic missions, and saw a number of closures. A substantial redistribution of New Zealand's European resources took place—posts in Greece and Austria were closed, while a new post was established in Spain. New Zealand's post in Iraq was closed due to the Gulf War, and the post in Bahrain was shut shortly afterwards—the post in Saudi Arabia assumed most of its duties, aided by a new post in Turkey. The end of apartheid in resulted in a decision to move New Zealand's post in Zimbabwe to South Africa. In South America New Zealand's embassy in Peru was also closed, but missions were opened in Brazil and Argentina.

In April 2008 it was announced that the budget for NZMFAT would be dramatically increased, and would include the opening of new missions in Stockholm and Brisbane.^[1]

On 4 May 2010 the Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced that New Zealand's diplomatic relations with Afghanistan will be formally represented by the first resident ambassador to Kabul, retired Army Brigadier Neville Reilly. In addition the first Civil Director of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan will be led by retired Air Commodore Dick Newlands of the Air Force. The Civil Director will replace the military aspects of the PRT with greater emphasis on civilian provided resources and services for the people of Bamyan.

Current missions

Africa

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year Opened	Concurrent accreditation	Ref.
Egypt	Cairo	Embassy	2006	Countries:  Algeria  Lebanon  Libya  Palestine  Tunisia	[2]
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	Embassy	2013	Countries:  Central African Republic  Djibouti  Ghana  Kenya  Nigeria  Rwanda  Seychelles  Uganda International Organizations:  African Union[a]	[3][4]
South Africa	Pretoria	High Commission	1996	Countries:  Angola  Botswana  Eswatini  Lesotho  Malawi  Mauritius  Mozambique  Namibia  Tanzania  Zambia  Zimbabwe	[3][5]

Americas

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year Opened	Concurrent accreditation	Ref.
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Embassy	1998	Countries:  Paraguay  Uruguay	[6][7]
Brazil	Brasília	Embassy	2001		[6]
	São Paulo	Consulate-General	2022		[6]
Canada	Ottawa	High Commission	1942		[6]
	Vancouver	Consulate General	2022		[6]
Chile	Santiago de Chile	Embassy	1972	Countries:  Bolivia  Peru	[6]
Colombia	Bogotá	Embassy	2018	Countries:  Ecuador	[6]
Mexico	Mexico City	Embassy	1983	Countries:  Costa Rica  Cuba  Dominican Republic  El Salvador  Guatemala  Nicaragua  Panama  Venezuela	[6]
United States	Washington, D.C.	Embassy	1941		[6]
	Honolulu	Consulate-General	2014		[6]
	Los Angeles	Consulate-General	1935		[6]
	New York City	Consulate-General	1947		[6]

Asia

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year Opened	Concurrent accreditation	Ref.
China	Beijing	Embassy	1973	Countries:  Mongolia
	Chengdu	Consulate-General	2014
	Guangzhou	Consulate-General	2013
	Hong Kong	Consulate-General	1960
	Shanghai	Consulate-General	1992
East Timor	Dili	Embassy	2000
India	New Delhi	High Commission	1957[b]	Countries:  Bangladesh    Nepal
	Mumbai	Consulate-General	2019
Indonesia	Jakarta	Embassy	1961		[4]
Iran	Tehran	Embassy	1975	Countries:  Afghanistan  Pakistan	[2][4]
Japan	Tokyo	Embassy	1947
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	High Commission	1959	Countries:  Brunei
Myanmar	Yangon	Embassy	2013
Philippines	Manila	Embassy	1975
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	Embassy	1985	Countries:  Bahrain  Kuwait  Oman	[2]
Singapore	Singapore	High Commission	1955
South Korea	Seoul	Embassy	1971	Countries:  North Korea
Sri Lanka	Colombo	High Commission	2022	Countries:  Maldives	[8]
Taiwan	Taipei	Commerce & Industry Office	1973		[9]
Thailand	Bangkok	Embassy	1956	Countries:  Cambodia  Laos
Turkey	Ankara	Embassy	1993	Countries:  Azerbaijan  Israel  Jordan	[2]
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	Embassy	2011	Countries:  Iraq  Qatar	[2]
	Dubai	Consulate-General	2007
Vietnam	Hanoi	Embassy	1995
	Ho Chi Minh City	Consulate-General

Europe

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year Opened	Concurrent accreditation	Ref.
Austria	Vienna	Embassy	1973	Countries:  Hungary  Slovenia  Slovakia International Organizations:  United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency UNODC	[10]
Belgium	Brussels	Embassy	1967	Countries:  Bulgaria  Luxembourg  Moldova  Romania	[10]
France	Paris	Embassy	1949	Countries:  Ivory Coast  Monaco  Portugal  Senegal International Organizations: OECD  UNESCO	[10]
	Nouméa, New Caledonia	Consulate-General	1972		[11]
Germany	Berlin	Embassy	1966	Countries:  Czechia  Liechtenstein   Switzerland	[10]
	Hamburg	Consulate-General	2022		[10]
Ireland	Dublin	Embassy	2018	Countries:  Cape Verde  Mauritania	[10]
Italy	Rome	Embassy	1966	Countries:  Albania  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Cyprus  Greece  Montenegro  North Macedonia  San Marino  Serbia	[10]
	Milan	Consulate-General			[10]
Netherlands	The Hague	Embassy	1950	International Organizations: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons	[10]
Poland	Warsaw	Embassy	2004	Countries:  Estonia  Georgia  Latvia  Lithuania  Ukraine	[10]
Russia	Moscow	Embassy	1944[c]	Countries:  Armenia  Belarus  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan	[10]
Spain	Madrid	Embassy	1991	Countries:  Andorra  Holy See  Malta  Morocco	[10]
Sweden	Stockholm	Embassy	2008[d]	Countries:  Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Norway	[10]
Switzerland	Geneva	Consulate-General	1961		[12]
United Kingdom	London	High Commission	1871	International Organizations:  Commonwealth of Nations	[10][13]

Oceania

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year Opened	Concurrent accreditation	Ref.
Australia	Canberra	High Commission	1943		[11]
	Melbourne	Consulate-General	1905		[11][14]
	Sydney	Consulate-General	1905		[11][15]
Fiji	Suva	High Commission	1970		[11][5]
Cook Islands	Avarua	High Commission	1965		[11]
Kiribati	Tarawa	High Commission	1989		[11]
Niue	Alofi	High Commission	1974		[11]
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	High Commission	1974		[11]
Samoa	Apia	High Commission	1962		[11]
Solomon Islands	Honiara	High Commission	1978		[11]
Tonga	Nukuʻalofa	High Commission	1977		[11]
Vanuatu	Port Vila	High Commission	1987		[11][5]

Multilateral organisations

Organization	Host City	Host country	Mission	Year Opened	Concurrent accreditation	Ref.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations	Jakarta	Indonesia	Mission	1961
European Union	Brussels	Belgium	Permanent Mission	1967	International Organizations:  NATO
United Nations	New York City	United States	Permanent Mission	1955
	Geneva	Switzerland	Permanent Mission	1961	International Organizations: Conference on Disarmament
World Trade Organization	Geneva	Switzerland	Permanent Mission	1961

Gallery

• 
  Building hosting the embassy in Berlin
• 
  High Commission in Canberra
• 
  Embassy in Dublin
• 
  Permanent mission and consulate-general in Geneva
• 
  High Commission in London
• 
  Embassy in Madrid
• 
  Building hosting the embassy in Manila
• 
  Building hosting the embassy in Mexico City
• 
  Embassy in Moscow
• 
  High Commission in New Delhi
• 
  High Commission in Nukuʻalofa
• 
  Building hosting the High Commission in Ottawa
• 
  Embassy in Paris
• 
  Building hosting the embassy in Santiago
• 
  Embassy in Stockholm
• 
  Embassy in Tokyo
• 
  Embassy in Vienna
• 
  Building hosting the embassy in Warsaw
• 
  Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Closed missions

Africa

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year closed	Ref.
Zimbabwe	Harare	Embassy	1998	[16]

Americas

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year closed	Ref.
Peru	Lima	Embassy	1990	[16]
Canada	Toronto	Consulate-General	1982	[16]

Asia

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year closed	Ref.
Afghanistan	Kabul	Embassy	2014	[16]
Bahrain	Manama	Embassy	1991	[16]
Iraq	Baghdad	Embassy	2020	[16][17]
Japan	Osaka	Consulate-General	1999	[16]
South Vietnam	Saigon	Embassy	1975	[16]

Europe

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year closed	Ref.
Greece	Athens	Embassy	1991	[16]

Oceania

Host country	Host city	Mission	Year closed	Ref.
Australia	Adelaide	Consulate-General	1990	[16]
	Brisbane	Consulate-General	2010	[16]
	Perth	Consulate-General	1990	[16]

See also

• Foreign relations of New Zealand
• List of diplomatic missions in New Zealand
• Visa policy of New Zealand
• Visa requirements for New Zealand citizens

Notes

1. Accredited as an observer mission.
2. Closed between 1982 and 1985
3. Closed between 1950 and 1973
4. Closed between 2012 and 2018

References

1. Young, Audrey (17 April 2008). "Foreign Ministry gets $621m boost". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
2. "Countries and Regions:Middle East". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
3. "Countries and Regions:Africa". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
4. "Minister of Foreign Affairs makes three diplomatic appointments". Beehive.gov.nz. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
5. "Minister of Foreign Affairs makes three diplomatic appointments". Beehive.gov.nz. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
6. "Countries and Regions:Americas". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
7. "Misiones Diplomáticas Permanentes" (in Spanish). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
8. "New Zealand High Commission to Sri Lanka". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
9. Office, New Zealand Commerce and Industry. "Home". New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office.
10. "Countries and Regions:Europe". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
11. "Countries and Regions:Australia and Pacific". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
12. New Zealand Permanent Mission & Consulate-General in Geneva
13. "Bede Corry appointed as next High Commissioner to United Kingdom". Devdiscourse. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
14. Trade, corporateName= Department of Foreign Affairs and. "The Department - About us - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". protocol.dfat.gov.au.
15. Trade, corporateName= Department of Foreign Affairs and. "The Department - About us - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". protocol.dfat.gov.au.
16. "Our Story". www.mfat.govt.nz.
17. "Foreign Affairs Minister announces embassy closure in Iraq". The Beehive. Retrieved 27 June 2021.

External links

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand