By Admin 
India-New Zealand Free Trade Deal: The free-trade deal (FTA) between India and New Zealand was finalized on Monday. This Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries was signed in the presence of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand’s Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay.
This agreement will take the economic relations between the two countries to a new level. Its objective is to increase trade between the two, to provide duty free access to the New Zealand market to Indian exporters and to attract investment of $ 20 billion in the next 15 years.
What is FTA?
A free trade agreement or free-trade agreement is an agreement or a deal between two or more countries, under which the custom duty on various types of traded goods is to be eliminated or greatly reduced. Due to this, goods become cheaper, which increases the demand for local goods in foreign markets and exporters and companies benefit from this.
FTA is not limited to just goods, but also aims to make it easier for professionals like doctors and engineers to move from one place to another. Under this, investment rules are also made easier.
Its benefits for India
- 100% duty-free access- New Zealand has abolished the custom duty on 100% of Indian products or 8284 items. According to PIB, textile, leather, pharmaceutical and engineering products will directly benefit from this.
- Investment of 20 billion dollars- New Zealand is going to invest 20 billion dollars in India’s manufacturing, infrastructure and agri-tech industry in the next 15 years. It is obvious that this will increase employment opportunities in the country and India will move towards reaching new heights.
- Trade will double – Both the countries are aiming to increase mutual trade from the current 2.4 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars in the next 5 years.
- Visa and employment opportunities- New Zealand will issue 5000 special visas every year for Indian engineers, doctors, healthcare professionals. In this, for the first time, priority has also been given to AYUSH doctors, yoga trainers and Indian chefs.
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