The pledge was made in a joint statement issued by New Zealand Defence MinisterGerry Brownlee and his Singapore counterpart Dr Ng Eng Hen after observingExercise Thunder Warrior, an artillery live-fire exercise at the WaiouruTraining Area of New Zealand.
The joint statement also said thatthe two countries remained committed to the relationship and looked forward tofurther opportunities to strengthen defence cooperation.
The ministers agreed to initiate an annual formal ministerial meeting todiscuss issues of mutual concern.
Brownlee affirmed New Zealand'scontinued commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) and ASEAN(Association of South East Asian Nations) Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plusframework.
The FPDA was signed by the UnitedKingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore in 1971.-VNA