Off the wire
• Bolivia opens int'l bidding on petrochemical plant  • CIA chief vows to remove IS leader on anniversary of bin Laden death  • Number of New Zealanders living alone projected to grow  • Spotlight: Security spending heavily bites corporate earnings in Mexico  • Vietnam's Mekong Delta rice output drops  • Backgrounder: Chinese do fishing around Nansha Islands for 7 centuries  • Australian state parliament evacuated over suspicious package  • Tokyo stocks plummet in morning as strong yen sends exporters lower  • China top coal producer reports less profits in Q1  • French, U.S. jet fighters destroy IS site in Iraq: French ministry  
You are here: 　 Home

New Zealand ramps up FTA lobbying with scholarships for India

Xinhua, May 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand government on Monday unveiled a new university scholarship scheme for Indian students as it seeks to secure a free trade agreement (FTA) with India.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce made the announcement with visiting Indian President Shri Pranab Mukherjee in Auckland.

Thirty-five top Indian scholars were being offered the opportunity to study graduate and postgraduate programs at all eight of New Zealand's universities, including in science, technology, engineering and maths, fashion, and business-related courses, Joyce said in a statement.

India was New Zealand's 10th largest trade partner with two-way trade reaching 2 billion NZ dollars (1.39 billion U.S. dollars) last year.

This initiative signaled the commitment of the New Zealand government and our universities to strengthen the relationship and recognize India as a core trade, economic, political and education partner, said Joyce.

Education was key to New Zealand's bilateral relationship with India, with more than 20,000 Indian students studying in New Zealand in 2014, making India the second largest source of international students to New Zealand, said Joyce.

Prime Minister John Key said after talks with Mukherjee on Sunday that the lack of an FTA was holding back the relationship between the two countries.

"If you think about the demographics in India, they're very similar to those in China -- so while we're doing well with India, in reality we could be doing a lot better," Key said in a report by Radio New Zealand.

China was New Zealand's number one market for export goods, while India was number 10, Key said.

"So you can see what opportunity there is."

Key also used the meeting to lobby for former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark's bid to become Secretary-General of the United Nations.

New Zealand and India began negotiations on a bilateral FTA in 2010 and both countries are parties to the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal. Endit