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Home , Beni Prasad Verma, Jerry Mateparae, Tim Groser

HIGH COMMISSION OF – WELLINGTON – NEW ZEALAND

Location and Address: Level 9, 180 Molesworth Street, Wellington PO Box 4045, Wellington (New Zealand) Website www.hicomind.org.nz Tel 0064-4-473 6390; Fax 0064-4-499 0665, 473 7149 E-mail:[email protected], [email protected]

I. NEW ZEALAND - BASIC FACTS

Location NZ lies in South West Pacific Ocean, 1600 km East of Australia; comprises of North and South Islands and a number of smaller islands; dependent areas include Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau. The area of NZ is 268,680 sq kms. Climate January and February are warmer and July the coldest; average temperatures range from 8°C in July to 17°C in January. Capital Wellington Population 4.50 million (2013 estimated) Currency New Zealand Dollar Rate of Exchange 1 NZ$ = Rs.48.10 NZ$ = US$ 0.77 Language spoken English and Maori Head of State Queen Elizabeth, represented in NZ by Governor-General, H.E. Lieutenant General Sir . Prime Minister H.E. Rt. Hon. Mr. (National) Dy Prime Minister and Hon Mr. Finance Minister Foreign Minister Hon. Murray McCully Leader of Opposition Mr. Andrew Little (Labour Party from 18 Nov 2014) Official Website of http://www.beehive.govt.nz Government of NZ: Ministry of Foreign http://www.mfat.govt.nz Affairs and Trade: Name of the Central Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 2 The Terrace, PO Bank: Box 2498,Wellington, New Zealand, Telephone 00-64-4-472 2029;Fax : 00-64-4-473 8554, Email : [email protected] Website : www. [email protected] Basic Foreign/ The Government's foreign policy goal is to influence international policy etc. the international environment to promote New Zealand's interests and values and to contribute to a

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stable, peaceful and prosperous world. Within that, the policy seeks to ensure New Zealand’s voice is heard overseas and its security and prosperity interests are enhanced. Membership of major New Zealand is a founder member of the UN and has multilateral and been a member of all its specialized agencies and regional organizations WTO. It is an active member of the Commonwealth, the OECD, APEC, ASEAN+6, PIF, ARF, Cairns Group, etc. Owing to its staunch opposition to nuclear weapons, it is no longer an active member of ANZUS. Major universities & 1) Auckland University of Technology scientific Institutions 2) Lincoln University 3) Massey University; 4) University of Auckland; 5) University of Canterbury; 6) University of Otago; 7) ; 8) Victoria University of Wellington Major industries Farming and horticulture (lamb, beef, wool, dairy &economic activities produce and hides); fruits, fisheries, forest and forestry products (timber and wood pulp), coal mining etc. Bilateral Trade India’s exports to NZ during the year 2013 were NZ$ 423 million and imports from NZ were NZ$ 669 million. India ranked 15th as an export destination and 24th as a source of imports. Major items of exports from India are Precious & semi-precious stones, Jewellery, cotton textiles and garments, Leather goods, sports goods, coffee, Tea, nuts, etc. Indian imports from NZ largely comprise coal, wool, raw hides and skins, log wood, fruits, butter, etc. Major tourist New Zealand is famed for its natural beauty, flora and attractions: fauna, and for its outdoors life-style and culture. There is a great diversity of scenery and experiences within the country. Traditionally, the most popular visitor sights have been Milford Sound, Queenstown, the West Coast Glaciers and the Geysers and Hot springs of the Central North Island. It is estimated that 30,000 Indian tourist came to New Zealand in 2013. Nearly 12,500 visas were issued by this High Commision uptil November 2014. On arrival visa facilities are available for New Zealand citizens in India. Major Newspapers and The New Zealand Herald - www.nzheralds.co.nz their Websites The Dominion Post - www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post Indian Newslink- www.indiannewslink.co.nz Indian Weekender-www.iwk.co.nz

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I INDIA-NEW ZEALAND POLITICAL RELATIONS

1. India and New Zealand share a common historical connection with the British Empire and have cordial and friendly relations rooted in the linkages of Commonwealth, parliamentary democracy and the English language. The two countries have been fellow travelers in their commitment to disarmament, global peace, North-South Dialogue, human rights, ecological preservation and combating international terrorism. The people-to-people contacts have been in focus since migration from India to this country began at the turn of the last century, and a sizeable population of Indian origin (estimated about 155,000) has made New Zealand its permanent home. Tourism and sporting links, particularly in cricket, hockey and mountaineering, have played a significant role in fostering goodwill between the two countries.

2. Recent High level visits from New Zealand

(i) At the invitation of Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to PM of New Zealand Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to GOI & DEA visited Auckland from August 28-29, 2014 to attend a conference titled ‘Science Advice to Governments- A Global Conference for Leading Practitioners’.

Shri Ramendra Chandra Debnath, Hon’ble Speaker, Tripura Legislative Assembly visited Auckland from 15-18 October 2014 and held exchanges with three Indian origin Members in the and influential members of the Indo-New Zealand community.

At the invitation of Hon. , Minister of Energy and Resources, Government of New Zealand, Shri Beni Prasad Verma, Hon’ble , led an eight-member Indian delegation to New Zealand from 29th January to 1st February 2014. Besides meeting with his counterpart Hon. Simon Bridges, the Hon’ble Minister of Steel also interacted with senior functionaries of the India-New Zealand Business Council and the state sector company Solid Energy.

Prof. P. J. Kurien, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, led a four-member Indian Parliamentary delegation to New Zealand for participation in the 22nd Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), held at Wellington from 21-24 January 2014.

Dr. M. M. Pallam Raju, Hon’ble Minister for Human Resource Development, led the Indian delegation to the 2nd meeting of the India-New Zealand Education Council held at Wellington on 9 July 2013.

Smt. Meira Kumar, Hon’ble Speaker, , led a Parliamentary delegation to New Zealand from 13-17 April 2012. During her visit to Auckland on 13th April, the Hon’ble Speaker interacted with the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians of NZ and also attended a reception organised by the India-New Zealand Business Council. The Hon’ble Speaker also extended an invitation to her NZ counterpart to visit India,

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together with a delegation of the Members of the House of Representatives of New Zealand.

(ii) State visit of Prime Minister John Key to India: Prime Minister, H.E. John Key, accompanied by Mrs. Bronagh Key, paid a state visit to India from June 26-30, 2011. He was accompanied by the Trade Minister Hon. and Member of Parliament, Mr. Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, senior officials and a business and media delegation. He called on the President and Vice –President, held talks with the Prime Minister and met with the External Affairs Minister, Chairperson, UPA and the Leader of the Opposition. Prime Minister John Key also addressed a business luncheon organized jointly by CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM. Two agreements were signed during the visit- (i) Agreement on Audio-visual Cooperation; and (ii) Protocol for Cooperation on Science and innovation.

(iii) Foreign Minister Murray McCully’s Visit to India: NZ Foreign Minister visited India on 4th June 2013. During his visit he held bilateral meetings with Hon’ble EAM, CITM, Sports Minister and NSA. Besides progress on FTA, a high priority for NZ; other bilateral/regional issues were also discussed. EAM has accepted the NZFM’s invitation to visit New Zealand at a convenient time. NZFM also attended the Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers’ [ASEM] FMs Meet in New Delhi in November 2013.

3. Record of Bilateral visits

(a) VVIP visits from India:

Sr. No. Date Dignitary 1. 1968 Smt. 2. 1986 Shri

(b) VVIP visits from New Zealand:

Sr. No. Date Dignitary 1. 1960s PM Walter Nash 2. 1970s PM Norman Kirk 3. 1980s P M David Lange 4. Oct’2004 PM Helen Clark 5. Sept 2008 Governor General 6. Oct 2010 Governor General Anand Satyanand 7. Jan 2011 Governor General Anand Satyanand 8. Jun’ 2011 Prime Minister John Key

(c) Other High Level Visits from India

Sr. No. Date Dignitary 1. Apr’08 Minister of Youth, Sports and Local Government, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar.

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2. May’08 Minister of Commerce, Mr. . 3. Aug’08 MOS(EA), Mr. E. Ahamed. 4. Mar’09 Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill. 5. Feb’10 Member of Parliament, Mr. . 6. Mar’10 Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mr. M.K. Alagiri. 7. Apr’10 Minister for Human Resource Development, Mr. . 8. June’10 Minister for Power, Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde (private visit) 9. June’10 Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Mr. . 10. Sept’10 Governor of Orissa, Mr. Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare. 11. Sept’10 Finance Secretary,Mr. Ashok Chawla. 12. May’11 Minister of Commerce and Industry,Mr. . 13. Sept’11 Minister of State for External Affairs, Ms. . 14. April 12 Mrs. Meira Kumar, Hon’ble Speaker (along with a Parliamentary delegation) 15. July 13 Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, Hon’ble HRD Minister 16. Sep 13 Lt. Gen. K. Singh, Vice Chief of the Army Staff 17. Jan 14 Prof. P.J. Kurien, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha 18. Jan 14 Shri Beni Prasad Verma, Hon’ble Steel Minister 19. Aug 14 Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to GOI 20. Oct 14 Mr. Ramendra Chandra Debnath, Hon’ble Speaker, Tripura Legislative Assembly

(d) Other High Level Visits from New Zealand Sr. No. Date Dignitary 1. Mar’08 Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Hon. Jim Anderton 2. Feb’09 Minister of Trade & Conservation and Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues & Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tim Groser. 3. Feb’09 Former Minister for Internal Affairs, Dr. Richard Worth. 4. Sept’09 Minister of Trade & Conservation and Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues & Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tim Groser. 5. Mar’11 Minister of Immigration, Mr. Jonathan Coleman. 6. Apr’11 Minister for Defence, Science and Innovation and Associate Minister for Economic Development and Tertiary Education, Mr. .

7. Oct 12 Mr. , Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment 8. Oct 12 Mr. Kate Wilkinson, Conservation Minister 9. Nov/Dec 12 Mr. David Carter, Minister for Primary Industries 10. June 13 Mr. Murray McCully, Foreign Minister 11. Nov 13 Mr. Murry McCully, Foreign Minister for ASEM-FM Meet 12. Nov 14 Mr. , Minister for Primary Industry & Mr. , Immigration Minister

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4. Agreements between the two countries: • Trade Agreement - October 1986 • Agreement on avoidance of Double Taxation - October, 1986 • Civil Aviation Agreement between India and New Zealand August 1997 • MOU on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between ICAR and Horti Research of New Zealand - March 1998 • MoU of Technical Cooperation between Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry ofAgriculture, GOI and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Regulatory Authority of New Zealand on Cooperation on Plant Quarantine Issues, April 1999 • Arrangement between India and New Zealand for cooperation in the area of Information Technology, December 2001. • MoU between Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT) and the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ), May 2003 • MOU on Cooperation between the Indian Council of World Affairs and the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, November 2008 • Education Cooperation Arrangement, April 2010 • MOU between Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Victoria University of Wellington, NewZealand, for establishment of Council’s short-term Chair in India’s International Relations and/or Indian Politics at the University; September 2010. • Agreement on Audio-visual Cooperation. • Protocol for Cooperation on Science and innovation

5. Foreign Office Consultations: India-New Zealand Foreign Office Consultations were held in Wellington on 24th September, 2012.

II INDIA-NEW ZEALAND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS

6. Bilateral Trade: The bilateral trade has been growing steadily reaching nearly $1.1 billion in 2013 Figures regarding bilateral trade in NZ $ (millions) in the last five years are as under:

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 (Till Oct) Exports to India 900 938 789 669 516

Imports from India 368 387 419 423 415

Major items of export to India are Coking Coal, Wool, Logs, Sheep skin leather, raw hides and skins. Major items of import from India are Diamond, Jewellery articles, Bed linen, table linen, garments and footwear. Mahindra-Satyam, HCL Technologies, WIPRO, Infosys and Tech Mahindra, New India Assurance Co. Ltd., and Bank of Baroda have presence in New Zealand.

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7. Joint Commission: Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the nodal Ministry. The last Joint Business Council meeting was held in New Zealand in May, 2011.

8. Free Trade Agreement: New Zealand and India agreed to undertake a joint study into the implications of a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2007. That study was completed in February 2009 and has since been accepted and approved by the New Zealand and Indian governments. The negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand commenced in April 2010. Until now, nine rounds of negotiations have taken place, the most recent held in Wellington on 29-30 July 2013. The 10th round of negotiations is scheduled to take Place in New Delhi in the near future.

9. Economic Dialogue between India & New Zealand: The annual dialogue between the Ministry of Finance and the New Zealand Treasury commenced in 2009. The inaugural talks took place in New Delhi in June 2009.The second round was held in Wellington in September 2010 and the 3rd in New Delhi in November 2011. The firth annual dialogue was held in New Delhi on 13 June 2014.

III INDIA-NEW ZEALAND POLITICAL RELATIONS

10. Cooperation in the Cultural Field: In light of the support by the ICCR/New Zealand organizations and initiative by the local Indian community, there have been many visits of dance troupes from India and other cultural events are also often held. Since 2002, Diwali has been recognized as the representative festival of the Indian community in New Zealand, and week-long celebrations are organized every year by the Asia-New Zealand Foundation in all the major cities of NZ under the aegis of the respective City Councils. The Auckland Diwali Festival in 2014 was inaugurated by PM John Key. The New Zealand Parliament also held a function on 28 Oct 2014 for celebrating Diwali, which was attended by Prime Minister John Key.

11 Indian Community: There are about 155,000 people of India and Indian origin and per latest NZ Census published in December 2013. As per NZ Government Report arrival of Indian jumped 64 percent during the year ended 31st October making India the third largest source of migrants at 10,722 people. Around 12,000 fee-paying Indian students studying in New Zealand in the year 2013. They mainly hail from Gujarat and Punjab and are concentrated in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. Most of them are engaged in grocery business and dairy farming. There are also several professionals including doctors, professors, engineers, chartered accountants and computer experts. Most people of Indian origin have acquired New Zealand citizenship. There are Indian Associations in major towns, which help the community and nurture its cultural heritage.

December 2014

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