4 months ago
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A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) betwixt India and New Zealand volition payment the textile, apparel, and the engineering sectors arsenic 8,284 tariff lines volition person zero work entree to New Zealand.
Mithileshwar Thakur, caput wide of AEPC, said that for the apparel and textile assemblage successful particular, the FTA opens avenues for marketplace diversification for ready-made garments, knitwear, manner apparel, location textiles, method textiles and man-made fibre products. A. Sakthivel, vice president of the AEPC, said textiles and apparel volition determination to zero-duty from earlier tariff levels of astir 10%.
New Zealand’s full imports of readymade garments (RMG) for the twelvemonth 2024 are valued astatine ₹10,394 crore, of which knitted garments relationship for ₹5,424 crore. India’s apparel exports to New Zealand presently basal astatine ₹460 crore, representing 4.40% of New Zealand’s full RMG imports. Notably, knitted garments represent astir 52% of India’s full apparel exports to New Zealand.
With the FTA, determination is important untapped imaginable for Indian exporters—particularly successful knitted garments—to importantly grow their marketplace stock and capitalise connected this increasing market. The agreement, concluded wrong 9 months of negotiations, reflects the Government of India’s beardown intent to enactment export-led growth, helium added.
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) president Ashwin Chandran said the India-New Zealand FTA volition supply zero-duty marketplace entree to 100 % of India’s exports. In 2024, India was the 3rd largest exporter of textile and apparel products ($ 138.65 million) to New Zealand, aft China and Bangladesh. “Coming little than a week aft the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) betwixt India and Oman, the decision of the FTA negotiations betwixt India and New Zealand shows India’s absorption connected marketplace diversification for commercialized and services, helium said.
Chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association Durai Palanisamy said decision of the FTA with New Zealand is simply a timely and affirmative measurement that volition importantly heighten opportunities for the Indian textile and apparel industry. It volition supply improved work escaped marketplace entree for Indian textiles and covering successful New Zealand. New Zealand being an important developed marketplace with precocious standards and unchangeable demand, the FTA volition alteration Indian manufacturers to fortify their beingness successful value-added segments specified arsenic fabrics, garments and made-ups/home textiles, helium said.
According to Pankaj Chadha, chairman, EEPC India, this is the 2nd specified statement for India successful the Oceania portion pursuing the ECTA with Australia deepening our strategical ties successful the region. Within engineering, the FTA is expected to payment respective industries, including automobiles and car components and superior goods and concern machinery. Over the adjacent 5 years, engineering exports to New Zealand are projected to double, reflecting beardown aboriginal growth.
