A free trade agreement with India will help New Zealand reduce its dependence on the Chinese market, the country's biggest trading partner, Prime Minister John Key says.
Speaking at an Indian New Zealand Business Council summit in Auckland yesterday, Key said while he was a big defender of New Zealand's free trade agreement with China and the benefits it had delivered, including a big increase in two-way trade, one of the concerns was "being too China dependent".
"New Zealand's had experience before in being too dependent on one market when it was essentially Britain's farm in the South Pacific. There's a long-term risk that New Zealand could get to the point of being totally Chinese dependent and for whatever reason that relationship sours," he said.
New Zealand started negotiating a free trade deal with India years ago. Key said it would only happen if Indian companies lobbied for it.
"There will always be resistance. But there is no doubt from an economic perspective we see real opportunities in India and vice versa," he said.
