By Bernama,
Melbourne : India and New Zealand are keen on completing a study by end of the year to find out feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for boosting bilateral trade.
Briefing a group of Indian representatives in Auckland on his recent visit to New Zealand, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that he wanted a time frame for India-New Zealand FTA.
Meetings of the Joint Study Group on FTA have made good progress, Nath, who was quoted by the PTI, as saying that he is hoping the negotiations on the agreement can start by next year.
He said there was scope for cooperation in a number of areas, including education, telecommunications, bio-technology and information technology.
Commenting on the progress towards a bilateral FTA, New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff said: “With food shortages in key commodity areas like dairy right across the world, including in India, now is a good time to address how we can cooperate more in trade in these areas.”
New Zealand agricultural technology, biotechnology and infrastructure engineering all have a big potential role to play in helping India lift food production, he added.
“Given the success of the first two meetings of the Study Group, in New Delhi and in Auckland, we hope that the process can be concluded before the end of the year,” he said.
“I am particularly pleased that the study is a comprehensive one, looking at all aspects of our trading relationship,” Goff said.
The present bilateral trade is NZ US$630 million between New Zealand and India, but there is a large untapped potential for increasing it, Goff said.
He said, there were tariff and technical barriers for New Zealand agriculture products in India. These include sanitary and phyto-sanitary restrictions, besides the customs procedures.
“This is a very positive time for New Zealand and India trading and wider relationships, and the excellent tone of our meeting reflected this,” Goff said.