INZBC Trade Delegation To India Seeks To Reignite B2B Connections

The India New Zealand Business Council is taking a trade delegation to India from 19-21 September 2022. The trade delegation comprises 20 members representing various industry sectors, right from Primary Sector, F&B, Meat, Aviation, Education, IT services, Finance, etc.

The delegation is going from New Zealand to New Delhi to have three days of meetings with various trade chambers, Indian government officials and attending the annual conference of FICCI (The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry).

The Chair of the India NZ Business Council, Earl Rattray emphasised that this visit is happening at the right time, after the Covid-induced lull in trade continuity.

"This is a long overdue visit to by the business community of New Zealand. While we all have our individual engagements with India, having this large delegation which covers a broad cross-section of business interests, conveys a very strong signal that we respect India".

On what the delegation aims to achieve, Mr Rattray who has dairy interests in India said, "This visit is about building relationship equity so that Indian authorities and business sectors alike will see more of what New Zealand businesses have to offer. We intend to pave the way for greater engagement of NZ commercial interests with India. None of us participating in this visit have any doubt that India will become much more relevant to New Zealand, and to the entire world in the generations to come. We are embracing India now".

Jay Changlani, director of an accounting service firm, Orb360 and the treasurer of the Council emphasised that a delegation like this, would help B2B engagement and facilitate new business to emerge.

He commented, "We are delighted to take this high-powered delegation to India to facilitate trade, Investment, and people-to-people connections in NZ and India. INZBC believes that in absence of FTA, kiwi and Indian businesses can work in a practical and pragmatic manner to achieve wider outcomes for both countries."

"Also, I feel that it is a great opportunity for INZBC members to network with our premier partners in India by attending the annual international conference of FICCI and enhance their offerings to India, which is to explore joint venture opportunities to share know-how and processes and in turn access scale of India".

"Besides above, INZBC would want to widen our network by signing MOUs with like-minded business councils in India and set up a one-point knowledge hub with Invest India to facilitate ease of doing business in India".

Recently India has become more open to bilateral trade agreements. With the recent signing of the FTA between India and Australia, the trade talks with India have gained a new focus and momentum, in New Zealand. For many companies like Zespri, the key to growth in India lies in collaboration for new projects.

Michael Fox is representing Zespri in the delegation as India is a major market for them.

"India is an incredible country and a real focus for Zespri. We're focused on providing more consumers with premium, healthy and high-quality kiwifruit, building stronger relationships with partners there and also making a positive contribution to local communities there as we do around the world. This trip is a great opportunity to meet with government and industry leaders and discuss ways we can do that together to benefit both our countries. It's great to see such a strong presence from the business community reflecting how important India is to the future of New Zealand", he commented.

As per the latest figures released by Stats NZ, in the June 2022 quarter, New Zealand exported $201.05 million of total goods and services to India and imported $307.36 million, representing a negative trade balance of $-106.31 million. Since COVID the exports from New Zealand to India have been on the decline while the imports have been rising, especially in mechanical machinery and pharmaceuticals.

"The INZBC-led delegation to India is a step towards reigniting the NZ India relations in a post-Covid era. With a new High Commissioner announced to NZ, INZBC is continuing to encourage NZ exporters to look at alternative markets with a practical hands-on approach to navigate the complexities of the 1.2 billion consumers in India", says Sunil Kaushal, Head of Strategic Relations for INZBC.

"Trade delegations have a greater impact as they lead to actual people-to-people and business-to-business interactions, which cannot be replicated in official corridors", commented Kaushal.

© Scoop Media