Rt Hon Winston Peters

Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Hon David Parker

Minister for Trade and Export Growth

Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week.

The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement with the world’s 5th biggest economy.

“This Government is seriously committed to strengthening New Zealand’s relationship with India,” said Mr Peters.

“We will be discussing how both countries can work together on global and regional issues, and towards potential trade and economic opportunities.”

Both Ministers will meet a number of counterparts while in New Delhi, including External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of Industry and Commerce, Piyush Goyal.

The business delegation includes senior business people representing a cross-section of New Zealand’s trade relationship with India. This includes companies working on premium food and beverage and primary production, advanced solutions for India’s aviation and manufacturing sectors, and ICT, tech and services offerings.

“Our delegates reflect the range and ingenuity of New Zealand’s business, and the potential for closer commercial links between our two countries,” Mr Parker said.

“We share the wish to see New Zealand and India’s relationship thrive and deliver greater prosperity and security to both countries.”

The Ministers will be travelling 25-29 February and will visit New Delhi and Mumbai.

India is New Zealand’s 13th largest two-way trading partner, with significant potential for growth and market diversification for New Zealand across both services and goods. India provides the second highest number of international students to New Zealand, while the number of tourist visitors continues to grow.

A link to the Government’s new India Strategy can be found here.