Members of the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) met Ralph Hays, the newly appointed Trade Commissioner/Consul General designate of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) to Mumbai at his office in Auckland on Monday, March 6. The members discussed the trade policies that help businesses between India and New Zealand.
“This was an opportunity for me to discuss with the business on the ground, on what their problems are and how we can help them grow”, Mr Hays said.
Mr Ralph joined NZTE in 2010 as a Business Development Manager in Spain. In 2013 he was seconded to Brazil to help support the Prime Minister Mission to South America which then led on to a full-time position as Trade Commissioner in Sao Paulo. Ralph has worked across a range of different industry sectors in NZ, Australia, UK and Spain. His recent experience includes working as a management accountant in the food and beverage sector and as a business analyst in the cruise industry.
Several industry sectors were represented at the event such as banking, winery, education, finance, logistics, infrastructure, and aviation. The dialogue gave some deep insights into the issues faced by the members and about the ongoing discussions around the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
National List MP Kanwaljit Bakshi congratulated the newly appointed Trade Commissioner and Consul General at the event. He said that both the governments are working very closely for better ties especially after the last visit of former Prime Minister John Key to India and his meeting with his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Wenceslaus Anthony, Head of Government Relations INZBC welcoming the guests present on the occasion.
“INZBC always try to connect the members and the businesses to the correct government agencies so that they get the information from the horse’s mouth. Such events are an effort in this direction,” Mr Anthony said.
“INZBC has had a good relation with the office of the Trade Commissioner in Mumbai, and INZBC played an integral part in the opening of the office in 2008. INZBC conducted a business summit attended by business leaders from Mumbai and Delhi,” Mr Anthony further said.
Bhav Dhillon, Treasure INZBC, apprised the members about the upcoming Edutech Summit 2017 scheduled to be hosted in the first week of August this year.
“Events of this scale and magnitude, add a lot of value to our members, stakeholders and the NZ Inc. at large,” Mr Dhillon said.