India, New Zealand conclude fourth round of FTA talks; to work towards early conclusion

New Delhi: India and New Zealand on Friday concluded the fourth round of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement and have agreed to work towards its early conclusion.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was here to review the progress of these negotiations with his New Zealand counterpart Todd McClay.

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The fourth round of India-New Zealand FTA negotiations was focused on goods market access, services, economic and technical cooperation, and investment opportunities, Goyal said in a social media post.

"We look forward to working towards the early conclusion of a balanced, comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement, in line with the growing strategic and economic convergence between India and New Zealand," he said.

During this three-day visit, Goyal also held meetings with business leaders to discuss ways to boost trade and investments.

The minister, on November 6, stated that talks are progressing fast and expressed hope that the free trade agreement will be finalised soon.

The FTA negotiations were formally launched on March 16, 2025.

Meanwhile, the Indian minister held meetings with several New Zealand business leaders, including Carmen Vicelich, CEO of Valocity; Ranjay Sikka, CEO of Slumberzone; and Nathan Guy, Chairman of the Meat Industry Association.

The interactions reflected the growing interest in expanding cooperation with India across diverse sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, technology, education, sports, gaming, and drone technology.

Given India's significant advancements in the space sector, including its recent lunar missions, space collaboration was identified as a promising area for future engagement, the commerce ministry said.

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.

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

In a free trade agreement, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in goods and services.

India and New Zealand began negotiating the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (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.

Meanwhile, the Commerce and Industry Minister will visit Australia tomorrow.

The visit is important as negotiations are underway between the countries for the second tranche of the India-Australia free trade agreement.

The first part of the pact comes into force in December 2022.

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