Third round talks set for Sept 2025
The second round of negotiations for the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has accomplished significant advancement in multiple areas, including Trade in Goods and Services, Investment, Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and Economic Cooperation http://commerce.gov.in.
“Discussions were marked by mutual interest in achieving early convergence on several texts,” said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry after completing the negotiations held 14-25 July 2025 in New Delhi https://fieo.org/.
“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to concluding a balanced, comprehensive, and forward-looking agreement,” the Ministry said on 25 July https://exportnz.org.nz/.
“The Second Round of negotiations concluded successfully today in New Delhi, further advancing the shared objective of strengthening bilateral trade and economic partnerships,” said the Ministry https://www.dairynz.co.nz/.
The Third Round of negotiations is scheduled to be held in New Zealand in September 2025. The intersessional virtual meetings will maintain the forward trajectory set in the second round.
India’s bilateral merchandise trade with New Zealand reached US$1.3 billion in FY 2024-25, recording a growth of 48.6% over the previous financial year, signaling the growing potential of the economic partnership. The FTA is expected to enhance trade flows, support investment linkages, promote supply chain resilience, and establish a predictable and enabling environment for businesses in both countries https://www.bseindia.com/.
The first round held in May 2025 in New Delhi.
The FTA development catalyses the shared commitment to deepen economic ties and guidance given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit of his counterpart Christopher Luxon in March 2025 https://www.nseindia.com/.
The FTA was launched during the meeting between Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Todd McClay, Minister for Trade and Investment, on 16 March 2025. Fiinews.com
