Tuesday, 19 December 2023 09:55

It's not all cricket and trade!

Written by  Peter Burke
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay. Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay.

Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay is making a whistlestop visit to India this week to meet with his counterpart in the Indian government.

This is McClay’s first trip as Trade Minister.

He says the decision to go so soon is to signal that developing a close relationship with India is a top priority for the new government.

McClay is just going by himself with one staff member from his office. He told Rural News that the goal is to start a conversation about ways the two governments can strengthen the relationship.

McClay will be in India for just one day. As well as meeting his trade counterpart, he plans to meet with large business groups in the country to assess trade and investment opportunities and talk about ways the two countries can cooperate.

There has been a lot talk about NZ getting an FTA with India, but the possibilities of this happening in the near future seem remote – the stumbling block being dairy. However, McClay points out that India has done trade deals of varying quality with other countries. He says the way forward is to have deals based on rules-based trade.

“Talk to many people here in NZ and they see India in the context of trade and cricket. But the relationship is much more than that,” McClay explains.

“We believe that India has an opportunity to play a very constructive role in the Pacific with us. We think there will also be many international organisations where India and NZ have similar positions that we can cooperate on.”

McClay says this trip is about staring the process and is just the first of many visits to India. In the new year, both he and the Minister of Foreign Affairs will go there again to build on these preliminary talks.

On his way back to NZ, McClay is stopping off in Singapore to have talks with business people.

More like this

Changing global trade ties

OPINION: I recently returned from a market visit overseas, including the United Kingdom and Europe. These are critical, historically important and increasingly high value markets for our red meat exports.

Editorial: KiwiSaver to the rescue?

OPINION: Farmers are rightly urging the Government to relax the rules around KiwiSaver and allow young farmers to use their savings towards purchasing either a house, cows or a farm.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

Machinery & Products

Calf feeding boost

Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this…

JD's precision essentials

Farmers across New Zealand are renowned for their productivity and efficiency, always wanting to do more with less, while getting…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Are they serious?

OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their…

A hurry up!

OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter