India and New Zealand have signed free trade agreement on Monday, April 27 in New Delhi.
The two countries last year announced the conclusion of negotiations for the trade deal. The agreement, which comes at a time of global uncertainties, aims to provide tariff-free access to the New Zealand’s market for Indian goods, which is likely to bring in $20 billion in investment over the next 15 years, reports say.
On signing of India-NZ Free Trade Agreement, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal was quoted by PTI in a press conference saying, “We meet at a time when the world economy is being re-cast, the lines are being redrawn, nations are choosing partners, different countries are crafting the journey ahead. In this changing world, India and New Zealand have chosen each other. The India-New Zealand FTA has been concluded in a record 9 months.
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Reflecting on upcoming trade agreements, Goyal said, “A pace that reflects the depth of trust and shared ambition between our nations. Signing of this FTA marks another defining milestone in India’s engagement with the developed world and brings us closer to PM Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047…It is the seventh FTA I am signing in the last 3.5 years, with two more to go. In the next few months, it will be with the European Union and the US…”
Speaking at a joint press conference with Goyal, New Zealand Minister Todd McClay said, “Colleagues, we meet at a remarkable moment in the New Zealand–India relationship. In just a few hours, our two governments will take a significant step forward. One that reflects years of engagement, negotiation, and growing ambitions on both sides. However, what happens here today is just as important as what will happen later. Because while governments negotiate agreements, it is businesses that turn them into outcomes, jobs, innovation, exports, investment, and long-term partnerships.”
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