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After successful bilateral visits to Indonesia and Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now going to reach New Zealand in the last and most important leg of his foreign trip. This is the first historic visit of any Indian Prime Minister to New Zealand in the last four decades (40 years), for which there is tremendous enthusiasm in the government and business world there. Just before PM Modi’s arrival in Auckland, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has made a big and positive announcement regarding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, which has injected new energy into the trade relations between the two countries.
57 percent Kiwi products will be completely tax-free from day one: Christopher Luxon
How happy New Zealand is with this historic trade deal concluded with India in the month of April can be gauged from the latest statement of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Expressing happiness on the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Luxon said that the free trade agreement with India is going to give an unprecedented boost to New Zealand’s business and economy. He announced that as soon as this agreement comes into force, 57 percent of the total New Zealand products exported to India will become completely tariff-free from the very first day. This has provided a huge and easy way for New Zealand traders involved in dairy, agriculture and timber industries to directly access the Indian markets.
Bilateral talks, meeting with sports personalities and message to the Indian community
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reaching Auckland only on the special and personal invitation of New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon. There will be a high level bilateral meeting between PM Modi and PM Luxon during his two-day official visit. In this meeting, there will be in-depth discussions on further strengthening trade, investment, defence, security, and strategic cooperation between the two countries. Apart from this, PM Modi will interact with prominent personalities from the world of sports and business who shine at the global level in Auckland. Besides, he will also address a major event of the large and influential Indian Diaspora settled in New Zealand, which will further deepen the cultural ties between the two countries.
India’s textile and gems-jewellery sector will get bumper profits
The final agreement on this Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached between the two countries on 27 April this year. Under this agreement, New Zealand is going to eliminate 100% custom duty on Indian products, due to which Indian textiles, leather, gems and jewelery and engineering products will become very competitive and cheap in New Zealand markets.
In return, India has either drastically reduced or completely removed taxes on about 95 percent of goods imported from New Zealand. This mainly includes New Zealand’s famous kiwi fruit, apples, wood and wool. However, protecting Indian interests, the government has kept the domestic dairy sector and sensitive agricultural products out of this tariff exemption, so that the interests of crores of farmers of the country are not harmed.
Mega-investment of 20 billion dollars and the way for easy visa for Indians is cleared.
This trade deal is not limited to just import-export of goods, but it is also a roadmap for future big economic investments. Under this agreement, New Zealand will make a huge investment of US $ 20 billion in India’s emerging sectors like Infrastructure, Renewable Energy and Agri-Tech within the next 15 to 20 years.
Along with this, New Zealand visa rules are being simplified for Indian professionals, students and skilled workers. Under the new rules, every year IT professionals, engineers, chefs, yoga teachers and traditional medicine (Ayurveda) experts from India will be provided golden opportunities for special quota and work permit to work in New Zealand.