Malaysia Defence

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Malaysia Defence

New Zealand's defence relationship with Malaysia goes back to initial, very substantial, deployments during the "Emergency" and "Confrontation" in the 1950s and 1960s.  Today its foundations are in common membership of the Five-Power Defence Arrangements - FPDA (1971) - and the bilateral programme of co-operation and assistance begun in 1964.  The latter is administered through the Malaysia-New Zealand Defence Co-ordination Group (MNZDCG), which was formed and held its first meeting in 1996.

New Zealand units of all three services participate annually in FPDA exercises (involving New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom).  In addition to FPDA activities there are bilateral exercises, exchanges and training programmes contributing to one of New Zealand's most substantial defence relationships.  

Our two countries' defence forces also work well together in multinational peace-keeping operations, most recently in Timor-Leste and in Lebanon.  A Malaysian Defence Adviser was accredited to New Zealand and arrived at the High Commission in Wellington in 2008.