There’s an undeniable momentum in the India-New Zealand relationship and with it opportunities are opening up which then leads to the question from many businesses – what’s our role in creating those opportunities and how do we start to seize them?
Such is the level of activity at government level it alone must almost justify the direct flight everyone is asking for. The Indian President Droupadi Murmu visits New Zealand next week, Trade Minister Todd McClay appears to have his counterpart on speed dial, Foreign Minister Winston Peters continues to promote New Zealand’s cause and we saw what we think was the first ever visit by an Indian Commerce Secretary, with Sunil Barthwal visiting with his two lead trade negotiators in May.
And of course the Prime Minister has committed to visiting India which would add real momentum, as he would be the first PM to visit India since Sir John Key in 2016.
This is what the India New Zealand Business Council INZBC has been batting for, for many years - to make it a relationship that matters and that ultimately means opportunities for businesses like yours. In India, you do not do business with business partners, you do business with trusted friends and we’re really encouraged that the government is taking that approach head on.
Working with partners like the Indian and New Zealand High Commissions and key government agencies, INZBC has been helping to drive this cause and champion the momentum for an NZ Inc approach. We will only succeed if we work together and we’re coordinated and effective in the way we go about it. We’re too small to turn up in dribs and drabs.
Michael Fox is Chair of the India New Zealand Business Council. (Supplied photo)
The question is how do we make this progress matter to business and what do we do next? Part of the answer is business needs to both create and seize the opportunity – we won’t expand the trading relationship by waiting for the government to do a deal with business then piling in behind it. Instead the business we are increasingly doing will create a platform for the government – we need a strong plan for doing that and we need to make it easier and more attractive to invest.
The INZBC Report ‘A relationship ready for its next phase’, (released in 2023), in partnership with Duco had a significant impact on New Zealand’s renewed focus on India.
That began under the previous government which adopted key aspects of the report when refreshing its India strategy refresh and it’s continued under the new government with strong and regular engagement at the highest level.
This year’s report in partnership with Duco, Auckland University and the Asia NZ Foundation will focus on identifying the key sectors for greater collaboration now and in the future. That’s alongside a focus at a state level to provide more resources for businesses and ideas to take the relationship forward.
As INZBC advocated, the focus is on building a broad relationship, as we strengthen partnerships at a national level across areas including Trade and Foreign Affairs, but also increasingly across portfolios including Education, Immigration, Defence, Primary Industries, Science & Technology and Health.
These are opening up more opportunities for business and the momentum and interest is clear.
At a business level we led New Zealand’s largest-ever business delegation to India in August, last year, alongside partner organisations. To top it off, for the first time ever we held our annual INZBC Summit in India, with almost 200 people turning up to discuss opportunities to work together.
All of this creates opportunities for our members across the board and it’s so encouraging seeing people step in to take them up. We’ve seen a 45% uptake in new members and renewed members this year. There is also heavy interest from Indian companies to connect with the New Zealand market now, and we’re receiving a couple of calls a week from Indian businesses wanting to do more business here. This is on top of the formalisation of agreements with the key Indian business chambers given interest from India in NZ.
We’ve already delivered 13 big and small events since June last year and we’ve seen two big business delegations from India for business exchanges. This included a 30 company delegation which participated in a B2B expo in West Auckland, organised by INZBC. This was a first of its kind in New Zealand with the organisers committing to a yearly event, underlining the momentum. And there’s more to come as we look at our Summit later this year and a delegation to India early next.
We know that as the relationship evolves and as the opportunities develop then our approach and the way we support businesses into India will need to as well. INZBC is making a series of changes to respond to the interest and to support the strengthening relations and NZ businesses looking to expand into India. This includes a focus on strengthening our network in India so businesses have more support available, on ensuring that we are better telling our story and providing information and on making sure our strategy continues to evolve to ensure we deliver for New Zealand businesses.
We’re able to do this because of the support of our members, sponsors and partners – all committed to taking the India-New Zealand relationship forward.
Together we’re making immense progress and we’re excited about what that means for New Zealand businesses who are seizing the opportunity to partner with India.
(The writer is Zespri’s Head of Global Public Affairs and Chair of the India New Zealand Business Council.)
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