New Zealand is looking at another free trade deal with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe saying he is open to a trade agreement with the country, Radio New Zealand said.

Wickremesinghe arrived in New Zealand last Friday for his first official visit, and has been keen to share a simple message that "Sri Lanka is open for business".

Wickremesinghe made the comments about a possible deal at an Asia New Zealand Foundation-hosted event in Wellington.

He said after decades of brutal civil war his country was trying to put the past behind it and build ties with its east-Asian and Pacific neighbours.

Former New Zealand trade negotiator Charles Finny asked Wickremesinghe if that extended to a free trade deal with New Zealand, said RNZ.

"You are expanding your free trade agreement with India to include services and investment and you're also looking at free trade agreements with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand," Finny said.

"All of those countries are either negotiating with New Zealand, or have long-standing free trade agreement links with New Zealand."

"Is Sri Lanka possibly interested in expanding its network to include New Zealand?"

Wickremesinghe replied that the two countries' trade ministers had discussed the possibility of a trade agreement.

"If you get into this type of agreement and come into Sri Lanka, it would be a base for New Zealand to operate in the Indian Ocean."

Two-way trade between New Zealand and Sri Lanka is worth $333 million a year at present but goods, especially dairy products, get hit with expensive tariffs.

Wickremesinghe told the event New Zealand and Sri Lanka had a lot in common.

"Both are small islands, both live next to large neighbours. Both exist on agricultural economies which are diversifying into other sectors."

New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay has confirmed he raised the possibility of a trade deal with his Sri Lankan counterpart.

He said they would look at ways it could be done, and would talk more about it next year.