Minister Groser speaks at INZBC function

Press Release

Minister Groser speaks at INZBC function

At a recently held INZBC function, Minister Groser spoke with impeccable passion and zeal about the need for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and India. He reiterated his Government’s unflinching focus on deepening its relationship with India which is aptly encapsulated in the NZ Inc India Strategy which was launched by Prime Minister Key in October 2011 after his highly successful visit to India earlier that year. Minister Groser reminded the audience as to how successful the visit to India by the Prime Minister was, as it successfully put the NZ-India relationship on a more strategic footing and immensely raised the profile of New Zealand in India.

The audience which largely consisted of medium to large businesses operating in the NZ-India space were given a good dose of charismatic optimism by the Minister who mentioned that bilateral trade relationship continues to grow well and merchandise exports are now approaching $1 billion and India is now NZ’s 7th largest export market. He further stressed the need to expand this export base to high technology products and services as currently the export profile continues to be dominated by commodities, something he believed is bound to change with the successful conclusion of a high quality FTA. He also lauded the role of NZTE which is working to further build capability of New Zealand firms to engage effectively with India. He could not stress more the importance of bilateral visits and quoted a recent ICT mission to India in March, which generated over 100 potential leads for the 7 kiwi companies participating.

The Minister lauded the role of INZBC which is a nodal body building bridges between businesses of both countries and helping both sides achieve a mutually beneficial FTA for the benefit of the wider businesses.

Wenceslaus Anthony Chairman of INZBC also addressed the audience and congratulated the Minister on his strong advocacy of the NZ-India trade relationship, and the high priority the current Government has placed on strengthening the relationship with India. He updated the INZBC members of what is happening at the council and thanked all the businesses for their continued support of the council which is going from strength to strength, with an ever increasing membership of quality businesses.

This event was hosted by Dinesh Naik Partner KPMG at their Viaduct offices. Bhav Dhillon MD of Cemix and EC member of INZBC thanked Minister Groser for accepting the invitation to come and share his views with a group of businesses playing in the NZ-India space. INZBC’s Strategic Partner, ANZ, was represented by Mark Hiddleston, General Manager, Auckland & Northland, Commercial & Agri, amongst others including Sunil Kaushal, who coordinated and conceptualised the entire event.

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