Rotorua (New Zealand): Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Thursday said talks are progressing fast between India and New Zealand and expressed hope that the free trade agreement will be finalised soon.
Goyal is here on a four-day official visit to review progress of the FTA negotiations between the two countries with his New Zealand counterpart Todd McClay.
“I believe this is a historic visit also because we are going to finalise the FTA very soon,” Goyal said.
He added that both sides are respecting each other’s sensitivities.
“Our teams have done a wonderful job. The few nuances that need to be addressed are before us. A lot of things, in the spirit of accommodation, have been closed.
“Talks will continue tomorrow also and hope to get a lot of work done. Therefore I think we will get an FTA with New Zealand soon,” Goyal told reporters here.
When asked if the trade pact will help boost the current bilateral trade of about USD 1.5 billion, McClay said the pact will help boost trade significantly.
“We’ve seen over the last year, the two-way trade increased by 10 per cent which is a very large increase when we think about the size of the two economies, and so we’re working hard to strike a deal that will give real opportunity to all Indian businesses in New Zealand and New Zealand businesses who are interested in working together in India, ” he said.
The agreement will also help boost cooperation in areas of agri technology, science and innovation, the New Zealand trade minister said, adding the two sides are making very good progress in the negotiations.
He will also visit India next week.
When asked if technology transfer in the agri and dairy sector under FTA is possible from New Zealand to India, he said “yes”.
New Zealand is a major dairy player in the world.
On the possibility of increasing two-way trade to USD 20 billion, he said it is feasible and needs to have good rules in place for businesses of both countries.
He informed that a New Zealand company, owned by an Indian New Zealander, is building a factory in India to make the highest quality mattresses.
Officials of India and New Zealand are holding the fourth round of negotiations in Auckland for the proposed free trade agreement.
Negotiations in this round are focusing on key areas, including trade in goods and services, and Rules of Origin.
The FTA negotiations were formally launched March 16, 2025.
The third round of negotiations for the agreement concluded September 19 in Queenstown, New Zealand.
India’s bilateral merchandise trade with New Zealand stood at USD 1.3 billion in 2024-25, registering a growth of nearly 49 per cent over the previous year.
The proposed FTA is expected to further boost trade flows, promote investment linkages, strengthen supply chain resilience, and create a predictable framework for businesses in both countries.
New Zealand’s average import tariff is just 2.3 per cent.
In a free trade agreement, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in goods and services.
India and New Zealand began negotiating the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in April 2010 to boost trade in goods, services, and investment. After nine rounds of discussions, however, the talks stalled in 2015.
India’s key goods exports to New Zealand include clothing, fabrics, and home textiles; medicines and medical supplies; refined petrol; agricultural equipment and machinery such as tractors and irrigation tools, auto, iron and steel, paper products, electronics, shrimps, diamonds, and basmati rice.
The main imports are agricultural goods, minerals, apples, kiwifruit, meat products such as lamb, mutton, milk albumin, lactose syrup, coking coal, logs and sawn timber, wool, and scrap metals.
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