India FTA opens doors but challenges ahead for New Zealand exporters
New Zealand's trade relationship with India is evolving following a recent FTA, though experts warn that ambitious investment targets may be difficult to achieve. The article highlights the complexities of market access and the potential for trade clawbacks.
Why it matters
The trade deal represents a significant diplomatic effort to diversify New Zealand's export markets, but faces structural and political hurdles.
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Prime Minister Modi’s visit deserves to be treated as the continuation of a long diplomatic effort, not its conclusion, says Damien O'Connor. Photo / Marty Melville
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to New Zealand this month is a moment worth pausing on - the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in four decades.
That alone tells you how slowly this relationship has moved, and how much work it takes to shift it.
When I took on the Trade and Export Growth portfolio in 2020, India was the market everyone called full of potential. The problem with potential is that it doesn’t put product on ships. Labour made a deliberate decision to reprioritise India and back it with our time, not just our rhetoric.
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