By Alkesh Sharma, IANS,
Chandigarh : Legendary New Zealand cricketer Richard Hadlee, along with various Kiwi agencies, is promoting his country as a “peaceful” and “investor-friendly” destination for Indians, cashing in on the attacks on Indians in neighbouring Australia.
“Now I am not at all involved in cricket any more and I am here only to promote New Zealand as a place to visit, invest in and to live among Indians. New Zealand is the safest and modern cultured society that always welcomes new immigrants from different countries,” Hadlee, who was here for a promotional event, told IANS.
Hadlee, who once held the record of maximum wickets – 431 – in Test cricket, inaugurated a two-day event “New Zealand Invest 2010” here Saturday.
“Recent racial attacks on Indians in Australia will clearly give us an advantage as New Zealand does not have any such problem. Around 122,000 Indians and 6,000 students from this country are already staying there. Besides many opportunities are available for people who want to invest there at this point of time,” he pointed out.
Tanya Kwasza, director of Catalyst 2 – an investment strategist company of New Zealand -, told IANS: “This is the most appropriate time to invest as New Zealand’s economy is going very stable. We have come out of financial meltdown very strongly. Real estate business had gone down by 10 percent during recession times, but now it is again in full bloom and the most lucrative option for Indians.”
“In countries like Canada, if you go under investor category, your money gets blocked with the government for some years, but in New Zealand you will immediately start getting good returns. There is no ceiling on investments and one can easily obtain permanent residency by investing 1.5 million (New Zealand) dollars there,” she added.
Kwasza said that they had a very good response during their seminars at Delhi and Ludhiana in the last few days. We have got over 300 inquiries from people who are interested in investing in New Zealand, she stated.
Currently, out of 80,000 international students studying in New Zealand, 6,000 are Indians.
“About 6,000 Indian students were studying in New Zealand institutions in 2009. Through this we had generated 127 million (New Zealand) dollars; so you can easily gauge the importance of India for us,” said Bradley So, an immigration lawyer from New Zealand.
So said that they already have a strong client base in countries like South Korea and China but in the last few years, India has emerged as an important country for New Zealand.
Experts said that besides world-class educational infrastructure, a plethora of investment opportunities are available in New Zealand in the fields of real estate, farming, dairy business, packaging, steel industry and food technology.
“We have the entire backup from the New Zealand government and there is a very simple procedure free from any legal glitches. We act as a bridge between potential Indian investors and the New Zealand government,” Sanjeev Toora, director of Auckland-based New Zealand Financial Solutions Limited, told IANS.
While enumerating the benefits for investors, Toora said that there is no capital gains tax, no stamp duty, no land tax and no sales tax.
“Other advantages include an undervalued exchange rate, favourable bank lending, investor-friendly tax policies and a stable government and economy. Moreover, our country is very safe and there are no racial attacks or discrimination with any community,” he pointed out.
(Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])