India, New Zealand FTA by March 2012: John Key

28 Jun 2011 Evaluate

On a three day visit to India, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said, New Zealand hopes to conclude the proposed Free Trade Agreement with India by March next year. The bilateral trade between India and New Zealand has been well below the potential, last year it’s crossed $1 billion, and both the nations have set the target of trebling bilateral trade to $3 billion in four years.

John Key said, “We expect it to be signed by March 2012”. However, Key added that the conclusion would depend on the quality of agreement and negotiations.  India and New Zealand already have completed around five rounds of negotiations, India is hopeful to get more market access for its professionals through the FTA and New Zealand is trying to get entry in India’s dairy market. 'These things are always delicate and, as we know from the negotiations with Korea, you can hit speed bumps along the way, but I'm confident they want to do a deal,' he added.

During his visit, John Key will meet India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and foreign minister S M Krishna on June 28 and will also address a meeting of industrialist from both the nations.

New Zealand is ready to offer more access to Indian Professionals. However, the stress is on the skill level of professionals, Tim Groser New Zealand Trade Minister said, 'We cannot allow unqualified people knocking our front doors and doing a poor job. Indian professionals who can benefit from this FTA, includes teachers, healthcare providers, technicians, IT experts, architects and hospitality providers, among others. New Zealand is seeking to get more access in India dairy sector for its dairy industry, as India has kept the sector largely closed.

Last year, India and New Zealand started their negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, an FTA, last year, that includes, goods services and investment, both the nation’s leaders are also expected to discuss on issues like energy cooperation, including civil nuclear.

In April 2007, the Indian Minister of Commerce & Industry and the New Zealand Minister of Trade agreed to pursue this objective by undertaking a joint study into the feasibility of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement / Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.

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