NEW DELHI: A 50-member trade delegation from New Zealand is in India to seek investment opportunities for its businesses back home. The delegation includes heads of different enterprises from sectors such as dairy, manufacturing, meats, fruits, aviation, education and forestry. New Zealand’s Trade, Agriculture and Export Growth Minister, Damien O Connor is accompanying the delegation.
“We have come with the largest-ever trade delegation to India. Among the 50 members, nearly one-third of people are of Indian origin. We are having a spate of meetings in Delhi over the next few days exploring the possibility of furthering our bilateral trade,” Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director, New Zealand International Business Forum told this newspaper.
There will be talks about direct flights between the two countries and collaboration in the diary sector which includes fighting diseases and animal traceability. Though the bilateral trade between India and New Zealand is just USD 2.51 billion, there is immense potential for it to increase in the future. “New Zealand is also being considered by many Indian students for their advanced education and we hope to see an increase in student inflow,’’ said Jacobi.
Meanwhile, India’s minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, Parshottam Rupala had a bilateral meeting with Damien O Connor on Sunday. They discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation in the sector which included animal disease management and animal traceability.
The Indian diaspora already makes up five per cent of New Zealand’s population and is growing. Indian immigrants and students contribute skills and diversity to New Zealand’s economy.
New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs and Trade office had drafted a document titled India - New Zealand 2025: Investing in the Relationship – which is a roadmap on why India is significant and how the two nations can fortify their association.
“India has a growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. It is a fast-growing major economy - currently the world’s 5th largest. By 2025, India will have the world’s largest population, with the youth making it a vast global source of both skilled labour and consumers,’’ according to India New Zealand 2025, a document drafted in 2020 to prepare a roadmap for enhancing bilateral relations between the two nations.