Edwin Paul: India New Zealand Business Council chair on the Government's progress on an India-NZ trade deal

Businesses are being encouraged to plan ahead as talks of an India-New Zealand trade deal continue.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon says both regions are making progress on a new trade agreement, as Trade Minister Todd McClay holds talks with his Indian counterpart.

India New Zealand Business Council chair Edwin Paul says discussions indicate it's likely we'll get an FTA by early 2026.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now key. We business leaders are being told to do
their homework right now in order to get the most
out of a free trade agreement with India when it's
hopefully signed next year. India's Commerce and Industry Minister was
in the country last week for the latest round of
trade talks, which is the fifth round of talks in
just seven months. Edwin Paul is the chair of the
India New Zealand Business Council and with us. Hello Edwin, Jooheather,

(00:20):
thank you for having me. Yeah, very welcome. Listen, you
were in some of the meetings. Do you reckon we
can get a deal done early next year?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I think so, but I have to clarify my position
so this is not an official position of any government
agency or the Business Council. But however, reading the room
and listening to the chat to connecting the dots, it's
a lone learned opinion on recognizing some very strong signals
and I think putting those things together it As a businessman,

(00:50):
I would say it's good to expect in an FTA
sometime in the early part of next year.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Okay, Now, if we don't know what's going to be
in the FTA, how can a business prepare for business
with India.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh, that's an excellent question. I mean, the contents of
the FTA itself is left to the experts. I don't
think even I'm qualified as a businessman to make any
opinion on that, So that's left to the negotiators. It
has farley asked implications. But what an FTR primarily provides
is market access. Market access to an economy that's currently

(01:24):
fifth in the world and to be the third largest
in by twenty thirty. So I think for any Kiwi
business at this stage is to think of not as
to what are the line items in the FTA, but
to prepare for what does the market of India offer
to my business and what opportunities lie there. This will
happen I mean six months, twelve months, whenever, but whenever

(01:46):
this happens. For it's good for New Zealand businesses to
have an India strategy and in anticipation of that market access.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
So basically, if you're already exporting to India, just basically
be prepared to export a whole lot more. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, And there could be a significant difference in your tariff.
For instance, if your current tariff was about thirty percent
on a product like honey, and if it comes down
to fifteen, that's a very comfortable margin for an operator
to either pass on to the consumer or to you know,
keep it as minded. And the profits is fairly significant.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, from sitting in those meetings, absolutely, it is. From
sitting in those meetings. Do you think we're going to
get greater access to dairy.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Or I wouldn't want to do the comment on that, Heather,
simply because these are negotiations, and these are happening in negotiations,
cards are kept quite quite close to the chest. I
don't want to risk any comment on this item. I
don't think people who are not experts should be weighing
in on this. This is at a very big The
deal is pretty big, the overall deal, and there are

(02:52):
experts who are already at a very advanced stage, and
I wouldn't want to get into any secral conversations on
this stage.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Here's the thing, right, the last time we rushed and
FTA was with Europe, and it was because just Cinda
wanted to be able to announce it while she was there,
and it turned to something, Oh, it is a bit
of a dog, isn't it? Is there are you Are
you seeing the same thing, like, is there a risk
here that by rushing it with India we end up
with something we regret.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Oh, I don't think so specifically. I mean, I mean
we don't want to pressure the process in any way
we do. I don't think any of the players, both
from the India side, and this is just my personal
observation at leding of the room, right, so both from
the Indian side on the New Zealand side, there is
no pressure to rush it. It's very complex negotiations, the
frequency of the negotiation, the rounds of negotiations, they've had

(03:39):
five till now, so those are all happening. So I
don't think it is being treated lightly. It's it's a
fairly significant FDA and and all of us are prepared.
I mean if you I spoke at one of those
events when I told the minister that we are prepared
for even a no FTA situation. But how India is
a market or an FTA further to tell months down

(04:00):
the line. But reading the room and how the stars
are aligning and how the different aspects are the dots
are connected, I think it's going to be fairly soon.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Jared has a question for you. Do you have any
idea what India needs from us? They are to beef
eating country, they do not require dairy products, So what
is it.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Oh India. Treating India is a non not a beef
eating country is a very naive assumption. I mean, if
you look at the number of beef eaters alone in India,
that would be more than the population of New Zealand.
That's the market size and those are the kind of
mindsets that TIV businesses need to get over. I mean

(04:42):
it's a huge market or market that's larger than all
of Europe put together. And we look at okay beef
if you were talking about prime cut beefs, there is
a market that's much bigger than New Zealand to supply
to brilliant.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
It's good to talk to you and best of luck
with everything, as even Paul, chair of the Indian New
Zealand Business Council. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.
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