By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : New Zealand Natural Ice Cream and Kiwi wines might have been a big hit with Indians but the country’s Trade Minister Philip Goff says agriculture has been the missing link in the growing India-New Zealand bilateral trade and economic relationship.
“A free trade agreement with India would clearly and significantly enhance our trade and economic relationship,” Goff said while addressing the India-New Zealand Joint Business Council meeting in Auckland Wednesday.
“We face prohibitive barriers in this sector (agriculture), either through high tariffs or exceedingly demanding sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.
“We will continue to urge the Indian Government to reconsider these barriers, and to press for enhanced cooperation in the agriculture sector.”
New Zealand would also like to promote the apple market in India. The minister said. “Because of our counter-cyclical harvest seasons, lower tariffs on apples in the off season would be mutually beneficial.”
Acknowledging that the bilateral relationship has been “longstanding and warm”, he said, “It is fair to say that it has not been particularly deep until very recently. Understanding and embracing India’s emergence, however, is vital to our interests and future prosperity.”
New Zealand’s exports to India grew from under NZ$200 million (about Rs.6 billion) in 2004 to NZ$337 million (about Rs.10 billion) in 2006, making India the second fastest growing market for the country.
New Zealand’s main exports to India include coal, wool, wood pulp, machinery, hides and skins.
High quality New Zealand coking coal is being used in India’s growing steel industry. Two Indian companies — Saurashtra Fuels and Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd — have taken a stake in the Pike River Coal project on the island country’s west coast.
Traditionally, India has exported gems and jewellery to New Zealand, but in recent years exports have diversified to various other fields. The two countries have a bilateral education cooperation arrangement. From a few hundred Indian students a decade ago, this year over 3,000 students have chosen New Zealand as their destination for higher studies.
New Zealand is also one of the most favoured destinations for Indian honeymooners. Rupa Mankad, who with her husband Siddharth had spent 15 days in New Zealand’s South Island, says, “We set about thinking where to go for our honeymoon during Jan-Feb which is peak winter in most popular destinations in Europe. New Zealand was the obvious choice since it was mid-summer there. It can be serene and at the same time adventurous and exciting.”
Tourism numbers exceed 20,000 in each direction — for New Zealand, a 14 percent increase in Indian tourist numbers from the previous year.
Goff informed: “To facilitate the increasing tourism traffic, we signed an air services agreement with India last May, which allows direct flights between Auckland and Mumbai.
“We see huge potential in the ‘new’ economy, for example in IT, specialised manufacturing, biotech, tourism and film-making,” the minister added.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare has established a market for its respiratory products in India’s growing private health sector; Hamilton Marine’s has tendered to supply jet propulsion units to the Indian Navy, and Compac is supplying metering equipment to India’s compressed natural gas industry.
New Zealand IT companies are also increasingly finding success in India — Vista Entertainment Solutions is selling its software in Indian multiplex cinema houses; OmniMax is building a market for its financial planning software and Cadmus and Provenco in the area of banking software.