New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has welcomed the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as one that will be a boon to New Zealand businesses and will give them access to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Luxon, who announced the deal on X today, just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled state visit to New Zealand, said the agreement would make a significant part of the country’s exports to India tariff-free from the very first day.
"New Zealand businesses are set to boom with our India Trade Deal. 57% of everything we export to India will be tariff-free from day one," Luxon wrote.
PM Modi to visit New Zealand after nearly four decades
Narendra Modi is scheduled to make a two-day state visit to New Zealand from July 10 to 11 at the invitation of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
The visit is historical too, as it is the first official state visit of an Indian Prime Minister to New Zealand in nearly four decades and reflects the growing strategic and economic partnership between the two countries.
Earlier Luxon had expressed his excitement in announcing the visit, saying that he was delighted to host the Indian Prime Minister.
He also highlighted India’s growing global economic influence and described it as one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies with immense importance to New Zealand’s long-term economic prosperity.
FTA Expected to Boost Jobs and Exports
The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement signed earlier this year is a major milestone in bilateral relations, Luxon said.
He said the agreement would create more jobs, boost exports and strengthen New Zealand’s economy as it would help to expand the country’s economy in the Indian market.
"The agreement will unlock new opportunities, giving our goods and services access to a market of 1.4 billion people, bringing more money into Kiwi communities, creating jobs and lifting wages," he said.
The agreement in principle should lower trade barriers in several sectors and improve commercial business relations between companies in both countries.
Key benefits for India and New Zealand
The Free Trade Agreement aims to achieve that the trade is more beneficial for bilateral trade and more investment, and more goods and services cooperation.
Under the agreement:
All Indian exports will receive duty-free access to the New Zealand market. 57% of New Zealand's exports to India will be tariff-free immediately. Both countries will benefit from better market access, investment and improved business relations.
For India, the agreement strengthens economic engagement with a developed Pacific nation and is a part of its overall Indo-Pacific economic strategy.
New Zealand's FTA means that it has more access to one of the world's fastest-growing major economies at a time when global trade is not only uncertain but also facing an uncertain climate for New Zealand.
Modi will hold high-level bilateral talks
In Auckland, Prime Minister Modi will have extensive bilateral talks with Christopher Luxon on trade, investment, defence cooperation, regional security, education, technology and people-to-people ties.
The Prime Minister will be interacting with business executives, sports personalities and the Indian diaspora in New Zealand too.
The visit will only strengthen the bilateral relations and economic ties between the two countries further and lay the groundwork for cooperation in many strategic areas in the long term.
