Talks for FTA with New Zealand may conclude in 3-4 months, says Piyush Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

India expects to conclude negotiations for a trade deal with New Zealand in another three to four months, and may soon close talks for a pact with a ‘second Gulf nation’ for a deal, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on June 19.

The minister was possibly referring to Oman as the second Gulf nation, given that negotiations for the trade deal is expected to close soon. India already has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with United Arab Emirates, inked over three years ago.

India and Oman are looking to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), talks for which started in November 2023, while with New Zealand, the second round of negotiations will be held in July 2025.

"This government is focussing on robust trade deals as we did with Australia, and are now negotiating with New Zealand, another three to four months. What we did with UAE and now we are close to closing a second in the Gulf, possibly start with other countries of the Gulf…And we are in active dialogue with the EU and we are in dialogue with the US, in dialogue with Peru and Chile. Countries with whom we don’t compete; we complement each other," Goyal said.

New Delhi is working towards closing a mini deal with the US before July 9, as well as an early harvest trade pact with the EU by next month.

Speaking at the Future Frontiers Forum in London, Goyal said the Indian government is focussing on brokering trade deals with developed economies that do not directly compete with India by citing the example of the FTA with UK, agreed upon last month.

India and the UK secured a long-pending FTA on May 6, with Indian exports set to benefit from duty elimination on about 99 percent of the tariff lines, covering almost 100 percent of the trade value.