Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) India and New Zealand Tuesday resolved to conclude a free trade area (FTA) agreement by next year and decided to expand their cooperation in diverse areas ranging from IT and education to agriculture, innovation and films.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held delegation-level talks with his New Zealand counterpart John Key on a wide range of issues, including intensifying ties in the economic, energy, environment and agriculture-related technologies sectors.

The two leaders decide to accelerate negotiations to conclude by 2012 the FTA that has the potential to more than double the current $1.3 billion bilateral trade to $3 billion by 2015.

New Zealand, a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), also assured India that the new guidelines tightening the export of enrichment and reprocessing technologies will not affect the clean waiver given by the NSG to New Delhi in September 2008, sources said.

Key, who began his four-day visit to India Sunday, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan here Tuesday morning. This was followed by a meeting with President Pratibha Patil and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, before talks with Manmohan Singh.

India urged New Zealand to transfer its state-of-the-art technology and increase investment in the country’s agro-food processing industry, which offers investment opportunities of over $200 billion.

“The two economies are essentially complementary and there is considerable potential to increase bilateral trade and economic relations. It’s time to give depth and width to our partnership,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said here while addressing a luncheon meeting with Key.

Sharma said India was keen to benefit from New Zealand’s advanced technology in dairy, renewable energy and agro-food industries.

“India is looking forward to partner with New Zealand in infrastructure, agro-food processing, renewable energy and IT,” the minister said.

Addressing a meeting organised jointly by leading industry chambers, Key said New Zealand was keen to boost trade and investment with India. “It is a two-way partnership. Our trade and investment is growing. There are opportunities for both the countries to further increase it,” Key said.

“The proposed FTA would deliver a broad range of benefits to both countries. It would definitely lead to additional trade flows and economic gains,” he said.

Four rounds of negotiations on the FTA have already been been held. “Our partnership is growing and that is the reason we are very keen for the progress in the FTA. We hope it will be concluded by 2012,” he said.

It will be Bollywood time for Key and his team in Mumbai Wednesday.

Key is expected to visit Film City in Mumbai and seek greater collaboration between Bollywood and his country, which boasts of a world-class film industry and some of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscapes in the world.