New Delhi: India and New Zealand are set to sign a long-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Monday, aimed at significantly boosting bilateral trade, investment, and market access across sectors.
The agreement will be signed at Bharat Mandapam in the presence of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his New Zealand counterpart Todd McClay.
The pact seeks to double bilateral trade to $5 billion over the next five years and is expected to create new opportunities for Indian exporters, particularly amid global uncertainties such as tensions in West Asia affecting trade flows.
It is also projected to facilitate around $20 billion in investment from New Zealand into India over the next 15 years, spanning manufacturing, infrastructure, services, innovation, and job creation.
Under the agreement, Indian firms will gain duty-free access to New Zealand’s markets, while tariffs will be eliminated or reduced on about 95 per cent of New Zealand’s exports to India.
These include products such as wool, coal, wood, wine, seafood, cherries, avocados, and blueberries.
India, however, has excluded sensitive sectors—including dairy, onions, sugar, spices, edible oils, and rubber—from tariff concessions to protect domestic producers.
New Zealand will also receive quota-based tariff reductions for exports like kiwifruit and apples, along with duty-free access for sheep meat, wool, and forestry products, and reduced duties on goods such as Manuka honey, infant formula, and select seafood.
A notable feature of the pact is enhanced mobility for professionals. New Zealand has agreed to introduce a temporary employment visa pathway for up to 5,000 Indian professionals annually, allowing stays of up to three years.
The agreement also addresses non-tariff barriers through improved regulatory cooperation, streamlined customs procedures, and better sanitary and phytosanitary standards.
On Sunday, Goyal and McClay participated in an Industry Engagement Program at Agra.
“New Zealand’s rich raw leather resources, combined with India’s manufacturing capabilities, offer a strong complementarity that both sides expressed keenness to harness. On the occasion, both ministers, along with Industry representatives, spoke of positioning Agra as a global sourcing destination, an employment engine, and an export powerhouse on the world stage,” the Commerce Ministry statement said.
Agra accounts for around 75 per cent of India’s leather footwear production and holds a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for its leather footwear and is a flagship product under the One District One Product scheme.
(DD News)
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