Goyal to visit New Zealand next week for trade pact talks

New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said he will visit New Zealand next week to hold discussions on the proposed free trade agreement between the two countries.

The FTA was formally launched on March 16, 2025.

"We are going to New Zealand next week to try and conclude substantially close negotiations for a free trade agreement," Goyal told reporters here.

The third round of negotiations for the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) concluded on 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.

According to experts, India and New Zealand should address market access issues for goods, promote collaborations in key sectors, and work on improving connectivity with an aim to boost bilateral trade.

New Zealand's average import tariff is just 2.3 per cent.

India and New Zealand began negotiating the 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. PTI RR RR SHW