NZ government officials meet with Indian leaders on FTA
July 4 2009
Groundwork for the planned Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand is beginning to gather steam from the New Zealand government side. Senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) invited a number of Indian business leaders to a meeting in Auckland a few weeks ago, seeking their inputs and ideas on the forthcoming FTA and briefed them about the progress so far.
A joint study by the Indian and New Zealand governments concluded in February this year that both countries stood to benefit with an FTA in place. The trade ministers of both countries – New Zealand’s Tim Groser and India’s Kamal Nath – met in New Delhi a month later and agreed in principle for an FTA subject to approval from the Indian government.
The run up to the Indian elections might have slowed progress a little but the re-election of UPA will probably result in the continuance of policies that were in place in its previous government and the New Zealand government hopes to pick up where it left off as soon as the new UPA government settles down.
“It all depends on when the Indian government takes the decision,” said Julian Ludbrook, Lead Negotiator-India FTA Unit at MFAT. “But we hope to get the process under way later this year.” Mr Ludbrook said communities on both sides were instrumental in shaping opinion and that there was need for engagement with them in the lead up to the FTA. This meeting was a step toward such community engagement.
Don Rae, NZTE’s International Market Manager for South and South East Asia said that India is a key target market for New Zealand although it ranks at number 17 among the country’s trading partners. The first Trade Commissioner to India would be appointed later this year, subject to the approval of the Government of India, he said. A trade office has been in operation in India since 2007.
“New Zealand seeks comprehensivity in the agreement,” said Mr Ludbrook. Relevance to WTO norms in goods and services, elimination of tariffs as well as issues relating to sanitary, phytosanitary, customs, competition, intellectual property and government procurement were important to New Zealand, he added.
Among several issues raised at the meeting was prominent community leader Prithipal Singh’s concerns relating to quarantine issues especially in the wake of recent cases of rejections in consignments containing Indian staples like pulses. While biosecurity standards were stringent, both MFAT and NZTE said, “concrete instances of food product rejections were needed.” The officials assured the group that all concerns would be taken on board and urged the group to keep communication channels open.
New Zealand Central Indian Association President Ratilal Champaneri and Secretary Veer Khar said that the potential of Indians coming to New Zealand as students was grossly underexplored because of a number of reasons relating to both visa policy and the lack of adequate visa application processing facilities in India.
The group also put forth ideas of joint ventures between New Zealand’s universities and institutes of higher education in India where New Zealand universities could offer courses tailor made for India’s fastest growing sectors. An example of this is courses in frontline customer services for personnel at airports in view of the fact that India is the fastest growing aviation market and would need big numbers of trained personnel in airport management tasks over the next several years.
New Zealand was particularly keen on exploring opportunities in agriculture, round log and coal exports in India’s fast expanding markets. In the services sector, there was interest in tourism, education and technology, the officials said. But air services was outside the purview of the FTA, Mr Ludbrook advised and any expansion in this sector would have to be dealt with under separate mechanisms.
One of the suggestions that came from the group was offering India post harvest preservation technologies for the agriculture and horticulture sector, particularly in view of the fact that as much as 40 per cent of the produce perishes due to poor infrastructure in cool storage, handling and inadequate and improper transportation modes.
Members of the group also pointed out that a number of businesses across several sectors in New Zealand had warmed to the idea of expanding their activities to India, recognising its growing potential ahead of the planned FTA. Some of these were in the areas of wireless communication, automated airport baggage handling systems and even cafes.
The officials requested the group to stay in touch over the coming weeks and thanked those present for their inputs.
A joint study by the Indian and New Zealand governments concluded in February this year that both countries stood to benefit with an FTA in place. The trade ministers of both countries – New Zealand’s Tim Groser and India’s Kamal Nath – met in New Delhi a month later and agreed in principle for an FTA subject to approval from the Indian government.
The run up to the Indian elections might have slowed progress a little but the re-election of UPA will probably result in the continuance of policies that were in place in its previous government and the New Zealand government hopes to pick up where it left off as soon as the new UPA government settles down.
“It all depends on when the Indian government takes the decision,” said Julian Ludbrook, Lead Negotiator-India FTA Unit at MFAT. “But we hope to get the process under way later this year.” Mr Ludbrook said communities on both sides were instrumental in shaping opinion and that there was need for engagement with them in the lead up to the FTA. This meeting was a step toward such community engagement.
Don Rae, NZTE’s International Market Manager for South and South East Asia said that India is a key target market for New Zealand although it ranks at number 17 among the country’s trading partners. The first Trade Commissioner to India would be appointed later this year, subject to the approval of the Government of India, he said. A trade office has been in operation in India since 2007.
“New Zealand seeks comprehensivity in the agreement,” said Mr Ludbrook. Relevance to WTO norms in goods and services, elimination of tariffs as well as issues relating to sanitary, phytosanitary, customs, competition, intellectual property and government procurement were important to New Zealand, he added.
Among several issues raised at the meeting was prominent community leader Prithipal Singh’s concerns relating to quarantine issues especially in the wake of recent cases of rejections in consignments containing Indian staples like pulses. While biosecurity standards were stringent, both MFAT and NZTE said, “concrete instances of food product rejections were needed.” The officials assured the group that all concerns would be taken on board and urged the group to keep communication channels open.
New Zealand Central Indian Association President Ratilal Champaneri and Secretary Veer Khar said that the potential of Indians coming to New Zealand as students was grossly underexplored because of a number of reasons relating to both visa policy and the lack of adequate visa application processing facilities in India.
The group also put forth ideas of joint ventures between New Zealand’s universities and institutes of higher education in India where New Zealand universities could offer courses tailor made for India’s fastest growing sectors. An example of this is courses in frontline customer services for personnel at airports in view of the fact that India is the fastest growing aviation market and would need big numbers of trained personnel in airport management tasks over the next several years.
New Zealand was particularly keen on exploring opportunities in agriculture, round log and coal exports in India’s fast expanding markets. In the services sector, there was interest in tourism, education and technology, the officials said. But air services was outside the purview of the FTA, Mr Ludbrook advised and any expansion in this sector would have to be dealt with under separate mechanisms.
One of the suggestions that came from the group was offering India post harvest preservation technologies for the agriculture and horticulture sector, particularly in view of the fact that as much as 40 per cent of the produce perishes due to poor infrastructure in cool storage, handling and inadequate and improper transportation modes.
Members of the group also pointed out that a number of businesses across several sectors in New Zealand had warmed to the idea of expanding their activities to India, recognising its growing potential ahead of the planned FTA. Some of these were in the areas of wireless communication, automated airport baggage handling systems and even cafes.
The officials requested the group to stay in touch over the coming weeks and thanked those present for their inputs.
Groundwork for the planned Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand is beginning to gather steam from the New Zealand government side. Senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) invited a number of Indian business leaders to a...
Groundwork for the planned Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand is beginning to gather steam from the New Zealand government side. Senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) invited a number of Indian business leaders to a meeting in Auckland a few weeks ago, seeking their inputs and ideas on the forthcoming FTA and briefed them about the progress so far.
A joint study by the Indian and New Zealand governments concluded in February this year that both countries stood to benefit with an FTA in place. The trade ministers of both countries – New Zealand’s Tim Groser and India’s Kamal Nath – met in New Delhi a month later and agreed in principle for an FTA subject to approval from the Indian government.
The run up to the Indian elections might have slowed progress a little but the re-election of UPA will probably result in the continuance of policies that were in place in its previous government and the New Zealand government hopes to pick up where it left off as soon as the new UPA government settles down.
“It all depends on when the Indian government takes the decision,” said Julian Ludbrook, Lead Negotiator-India FTA Unit at MFAT. “But we hope to get the process under way later this year.” Mr Ludbrook said communities on both sides were instrumental in shaping opinion and that there was need for engagement with them in the lead up to the FTA. This meeting was a step toward such community engagement.
Don Rae, NZTE’s International Market Manager for South and South East Asia said that India is a key target market for New Zealand although it ranks at number 17 among the country’s trading partners. The first Trade Commissioner to India would be appointed later this year, subject to the approval of the Government of India, he said. A trade office has been in operation in India since 2007.
“New Zealand seeks comprehensivity in the agreement,” said Mr Ludbrook. Relevance to WTO norms in goods and services, elimination of tariffs as well as issues relating to sanitary, phytosanitary, customs, competition, intellectual property and government procurement were important to New Zealand, he added.
Among several issues raised at the meeting was prominent community leader Prithipal Singh’s concerns relating to quarantine issues especially in the wake of recent cases of rejections in consignments containing Indian staples like pulses. While biosecurity standards were stringent, both MFAT and NZTE said, “concrete instances of food product rejections were needed.” The officials assured the group that all concerns would be taken on board and urged the group to keep communication channels open.
New Zealand Central Indian Association President Ratilal Champaneri and Secretary Veer Khar said that the potential of Indians coming to New Zealand as students was grossly underexplored because of a number of reasons relating to both visa policy and the lack of adequate visa application processing facilities in India.
The group also put forth ideas of joint ventures between New Zealand’s universities and institutes of higher education in India where New Zealand universities could offer courses tailor made for India’s fastest growing sectors. An example of this is courses in frontline customer services for personnel at airports in view of the fact that India is the fastest growing aviation market and would need big numbers of trained personnel in airport management tasks over the next several years.
New Zealand was particularly keen on exploring opportunities in agriculture, round log and coal exports in India’s fast expanding markets. In the services sector, there was interest in tourism, education and technology, the officials said. But air services was outside the purview of the FTA, Mr Ludbrook advised and any expansion in this sector would have to be dealt with under separate mechanisms.
One of the suggestions that came from the group was offering India post harvest preservation technologies for the agriculture and horticulture sector, particularly in view of the fact that as much as 40 per cent of the produce perishes due to poor infrastructure in cool storage, handling and inadequate and improper transportation modes.
Members of the group also pointed out that a number of businesses across several sectors in New Zealand had warmed to the idea of expanding their activities to India, recognising its growing potential ahead of the planned FTA. Some of these were in the areas of wireless communication, automated airport baggage handling systems and even cafes.
The officials requested the group to stay in touch over the coming weeks and thanked those present for their inputs.
A joint study by the Indian and New Zealand governments concluded in February this year that both countries stood to benefit with an FTA in place. The trade ministers of both countries – New Zealand’s Tim Groser and India’s Kamal Nath – met in New Delhi a month later and agreed in principle for an FTA subject to approval from the Indian government.
The run up to the Indian elections might have slowed progress a little but the re-election of UPA will probably result in the continuance of policies that were in place in its previous government and the New Zealand government hopes to pick up where it left off as soon as the new UPA government settles down.
“It all depends on when the Indian government takes the decision,” said Julian Ludbrook, Lead Negotiator-India FTA Unit at MFAT. “But we hope to get the process under way later this year.” Mr Ludbrook said communities on both sides were instrumental in shaping opinion and that there was need for engagement with them in the lead up to the FTA. This meeting was a step toward such community engagement.
Don Rae, NZTE’s International Market Manager for South and South East Asia said that India is a key target market for New Zealand although it ranks at number 17 among the country’s trading partners. The first Trade Commissioner to India would be appointed later this year, subject to the approval of the Government of India, he said. A trade office has been in operation in India since 2007.
“New Zealand seeks comprehensivity in the agreement,” said Mr Ludbrook. Relevance to WTO norms in goods and services, elimination of tariffs as well as issues relating to sanitary, phytosanitary, customs, competition, intellectual property and government procurement were important to New Zealand, he added.
Among several issues raised at the meeting was prominent community leader Prithipal Singh’s concerns relating to quarantine issues especially in the wake of recent cases of rejections in consignments containing Indian staples like pulses. While biosecurity standards were stringent, both MFAT and NZTE said, “concrete instances of food product rejections were needed.” The officials assured the group that all concerns would be taken on board and urged the group to keep communication channels open.
New Zealand Central Indian Association President Ratilal Champaneri and Secretary Veer Khar said that the potential of Indians coming to New Zealand as students was grossly underexplored because of a number of reasons relating to both visa policy and the lack of adequate visa application processing facilities in India.
The group also put forth ideas of joint ventures between New Zealand’s universities and institutes of higher education in India where New Zealand universities could offer courses tailor made for India’s fastest growing sectors. An example of this is courses in frontline customer services for personnel at airports in view of the fact that India is the fastest growing aviation market and would need big numbers of trained personnel in airport management tasks over the next several years.
New Zealand was particularly keen on exploring opportunities in agriculture, round log and coal exports in India’s fast expanding markets. In the services sector, there was interest in tourism, education and technology, the officials said. But air services was outside the purview of the FTA, Mr Ludbrook advised and any expansion in this sector would have to be dealt with under separate mechanisms.
One of the suggestions that came from the group was offering India post harvest preservation technologies for the agriculture and horticulture sector, particularly in view of the fact that as much as 40 per cent of the produce perishes due to poor infrastructure in cool storage, handling and inadequate and improper transportation modes.
Members of the group also pointed out that a number of businesses across several sectors in New Zealand had warmed to the idea of expanding their activities to India, recognising its growing potential ahead of the planned FTA. Some of these were in the areas of wireless communication, automated airport baggage handling systems and even cafes.
The officials requested the group to stay in touch over the coming weeks and thanked those present for their inputs.
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