Prime Minister Column Weekly Column
Last weekend I welcomed Indian President Shri Pranab Mukherjee on a historic visit to New Zealand, the first ever by an Indian President. One of the highlights of the visit was the signing of a new air services agreement, which will boost tourism, trade, and personal ties between our two countries. It paves the way for direct flights between New Zealand and India. Over the past year almost 52,000 Kiwis travelled to India and close to 60,000 Indians visited New Zealand. Under this new agreement, New Zealand airlines now have the opportunity to code-share to seven Indian cities – Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. The President’s visit was also a great opportunity to highlight our…… warm relationship, which is based on a shared Commonwealth heritage and commitment to democracy. New Zealand is also home to more than 160,000 New Zealanders of Indian-origin, who make an important contribution to business, cultural, and sporting life in New Zealand.
President Mukherjee and his delegation arrived for a three-day visit on Saturday 30 April and attended a series of events in Auckland, including an official welcome at Government House in Auckland, a state dinner hosted by the Governor-General, and talks with the Governor-General and myself. We had a number of positive conversations focused on establishing a free trade agreement between our two countries. India is an increasingly important trade and economic partner for New Zealand with our total trade in goods and services topping $2 billion last year. These positive discussions are a critical first step towards a free trade agreement that would provide greater access to the world’s 10th largest economy, and make it easier for New Zealand and Indian companies to do business with each another.
As a small island nation, New Zealand can’t get rich selling things to itself. But it can if we build and develop strong and enduring global relationships. Free trade agreements enable New Zealand exporters to sell more products and services to the world, which helps to create a stronger economy, with more jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders. While in the country, President Mukherjee was also involved in our announcement about a new university scholarship initiative for Indian students. This will see 35 top Indian scholars being offered the opportunity to study graduate and postgraduate programmes at all eight of New Zealand’s world class universities.
Education is key to New Zealand’s bilateral relationship with India. Last year more than 23,000 Indian students chose to study in New Zealand, making India the second largest source of international students to New Zealand. These latest initiatives signal the National-led Government’s commitment to strengthening the relationship and recognising India as a core trade, economic, political and education partner.
