New Zealand is upbeat about taking forward negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with India following “positive comments’’ from the BJP-led Government which has just concluded a study on the utility of such trade agreements.

In an interview with BusinessLine , during a recent India visit, New Zealand’s Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy said that the Cricket World Cup to be co- hosted by his country next year could further cement economic ties with India. Excerpts:

Negotiations on India-New Zealand FTA have not progressed much. What are your expectations?

Negotiations on FTAs always take time. Prime Minister Narender Modi recently reviewed FTA agreement policies. I got very positive comments back from the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Commerce.

Could agriculture, particularly dairy, be a sticking point in the talks, as New Zealand is aggressive while India is defensive?

The important point is that New Zealand feeds about 40 million people, so we are relatively small. We may be dairy exporters 160 countries, but this (Indian) market is massive. You are the world’s biggest dairy producers. So there is opportunity for more collaboration, not competition. Where do you see scope for collaboration in agriculture?

I went to the big produce market (Azad Pur Mandi). I was amazed at the scale — 500 trucks carrying 15 tonnes of produce everyday, all cleared by 11 am in the morning, six days a week. New Zealand could play a part somewhere in providing the handling technology.

There could be collaborations in cold storage and post-harvest processing. My understanding is that 40 per cent of your produce gets wasted because you have transportation that generally takes a long time and you don’t generally have refrigerated vehicles. You also have a hot climate.

We in New Zealand are specialists in refrigeration and post-harvest processing and see it as huge opportunity for forging joint ventures.

What are the other areas of interest and how important is India in your scheme of things?

India is an important market for New Zealand and one that we could strengthen. We have a strong history of people-to-people connection. About 1,50,000 Indians live in New Zealand and 35,000 tourists from India visit every year. Currently we have about $1 billion of two-way trade, which could grow significantly.

Fifteen New Zealand companies and organisations ranging from food and beverages to IT, hospitality, tourism and aviation are here with me as we see opportunities in all these areas.

What opportunities do you see in the aviation sector?

We are working on an open-skies agreement with India because you can’t have strong people connections and trade and business without having transport routes that function smoothly. There is also opportunity for collaboration in training of pilots as there is a worldwide shortage of pilots and about 200,000 pilots will be required in the next 15 years. New Zealand has the best reputation in the world for training pilots.

How do you plan to use the World Cup to promote business ties?

An MoU has been signed between New Zealand-India Business Council and the CII to look at building business connections around the cricket World Cup. The plan is to bring business leaders down to the event to watch cricket and discuss business on the sidelines. While we compete fiercely on the cricket pitch, we are keen to collaborate on business.

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