Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown will be making his way to India on Saturday. Photo / Dean Purcell
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown will be making his way to India on Saturday. Photo / Dean Purcell
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is heading to India this week to meet business leaders and major organisations for trade opportunities.
The Indian New Zealand Business Council invited the mayor to be a panellist at the India and New Zealand Business Summit to talk about business prospects in this country.
The “India and New Zealand - A Relationship Ready for its Next Phase” summit will take place when trade and investment potential between New Zealand and the third-largest economy in the world are receiving fresh attention.
To engage with company executives involved in innovation and technology, Brown will also travel to Bengaluru, where many New Zealand-owned companies have offices and are trying to further focus on India and share their expertise. A one-way airfare to India plus lodging for the week come to a total of $5973.23.
Brown has also accepted an invitation from Valerie Pecresse, the president of the regional council of Paris, to come to the city at his own expense for the Rugby World Cup. There is no cost to the ratepayer for the Paris leg of the trip or the return flight to Auckland.
Desley Simpson, who will serve as Acting Mayor until Brown’s return on September 11, has been given the mayor’s duties and authority.
Meanwhile, Damien O’Connor, the Minister of Trade, Export Growth, and Agriculture, will also be in India from August 27 to 29. He will arrive tomorrow for bilateral talks aimed at strengthening the two countries’ economic ties.
Then, from August 29 to September 1, he will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to hold talks with his Gulf Cooperation Council and Ministerial counterparts about trade and economic issues.
“This will be my second visit to India in less than a year, and the fourth Ministerial visit to deepen our relationship since the borders reopened,” O’Connor said.
“India is the world’s most populous country. It has the fifth largest economy and is growing at a faster rate than any other G20 economy.”
Damien O’Connor will also be going to India this week, for discussions on trade and economic matters with his Ministerial and Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts.
He said that the purpose of his visit to India was to give momentum to a partnership that is vital to the expansion and profitability of New Zealand’s export industry.
“In Delhi I will be reconnecting with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, with whom I met on my visit last year and have also spoken with on the sidelines of several multi-lateral events abroad,” O’Connor said.
“The visit also sees me meeting with my agricultural counterparts Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Hon Parshottam Rupala and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Hon Narendra Singh Tomar.
“I believe there’s good opportunity to increase cooperation between our agricultural and horticultural sectors.
“I will also be making a speech to the Confederation of Indian Industry on the importance of developing a long-term relationship through cultural, business, economic, and people-to-people links.”
O’Connor will meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council secretary-general as well as his ministerial equivalents in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while he is in the Gulf area.
“Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are our two largest export markets for in the region, and free trade agreement negotiations continue with the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which they are members,” O’Connor said.
“This travel will build on and further develop our strong trading relationships with key Gulf nations, including as part of our trade diversification efforts.”
Early next year, the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (MC13) will also be held in the United Arab Emirates.
“This visit provides the opportunity to discuss how New Zealand, working with our UAE hosts, can secure substantial outcomes from that meeting. Strengthening the multi-lateral rules-based system is vital to our export growth,” O’Connor said.
