New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Saturday praised India’s economic transformation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing the country’s progress over the past three decades as “incredible” and urging businesses from both nations to capitalise on opportunities created by the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Addressing the India-New Zealand Business and Sports Engagement event in Auckland, Luxon said he had been “a great fan of India” for many years and recalled his first visit to the country in the 1990s while working for Unilever.
Reflecting on India’s economic progress, Luxon said the country had undergone a remarkable transformation under PM Modi’s leadership.
“I first went to India in my mid-20s… I remember going to India in the mid to late ’90s and people got paid daily wages in coins in their hands. It’s interesting to me that under PM Modi’s leadership, he has lifted 250 million people out of poverty. There are now 440 million people in the middle class, about to be 750 million by the end of the decade. It is an incredible transformation,” he said.
“As someone who has been to India many times, to see the move from low income to middle income to high income is so inspiring and so exciting to see the transformation that has taken place,” he added.
Welcoming Prime Minister Modi to New Zealand, Luxon thanked him for visiting with a delegation of Indian business leaders.
“Can I just start by extending a very warm welcome to my very good friend Prime Minister Modi. Thank you, my friend, for coming all this way to New Zealand and thank you for bringing outstanding business leaders from India to spend time with our business leaders talking about how we can make the most of this opportunity,” he said.
Recalling their first meeting in Laos, Luxon said PM Modi had shared details of India’s rapid infrastructure expansion, including airport development, civil aviation growth and expansion of higher education institutions, which he found inspiring.
Highlighting future areas of cooperation, the New Zealand Prime Minister said both countries have significant opportunities to strengthen collaboration in agriculture, food, tourism, education and technology.
“As the 1.4 billion people in India get wealthier, we have the food and the produce that we can sell to them. We have tourism experiences. We also have fantastic educational institutions here and there is a lot that we can do in technology,” he said, adding that New Zealand has also emerged as the world’s third-largest launcher of rockets.
Luxon said the recently concluded India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement would create favourable conditions for economic growth, while emphasising that businesses would play the key role in translating the agreement into tangible outcomes.
“The Prime Minister and I… have created a free trade agreement and we can create the conditions for growth, but it is all of you in this room as the business leaders that ultimately go off and create that growth. That growth becomes the wealth by which we lift the living standards of people both here in New Zealand and in India,” he said.
Speaking on the broader role of governments, businesses and communities, Luxon referred to Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, saying meaningful national progress depends on governments creating enabling conditions, businesses driving growth and community leaders addressing social needs.
He also encouraged New Zealand businesses to engage more actively with India and better understand its consumers.
“Get on a plane and go learn about the Indian consumer. They are some of the most discerning consumers in the world. Learn about the markets, find the right partners, understand how to tailor your product and service in order to create opportunity both in India and here in New Zealand as well,” he said.
-ANI
