The New Zealand prime minister, John Key, will be pushing for increased negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India during an official visit to that country.
Mr Key told the New Zealand Herald the main objectives of the trip were to foster relationships between the two countries and gain traction on an FTA.
He added that an agreement with India could be as significant to some industries, such as dairy, as the FTA the country shared with China.
“Our trade with China this year was NZ$13bn and with India it was about NZ$1bn. So there are huge opportunities for us,” he told the newspaper.
The government believed a free trade agreement could triple trade with India by 2014.
India currently has Free Trade Agreements with 10 other countries and is in the final stages of negotiations with the EU, the newspaper reported.
Mr Key was accompanied on the trip by a delegation of 25 business leaders including representatives from both Zespri and Pipfruit New Zealand.
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