India-New Zealand Business Council 11th Joint Meeting

I greet everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the morning and the sun has risen (Sign)

May I specifically acknowledge you: Your Excellency, Kadakath Pathrose Ernest, High Commissioner for India to New Zealand; Paddy Marra and Fergus McLean; Chairman and Executive Director respectively of the India New Zealand Business Council; Vikram Kapur, Chair of the Council's Indian counterpart; P.K. Dash, Joint Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Commerce; Distinguished Guests otherwise, notably Mr Paul Vaughan our country's Trade representative in New Delhi; Ladies and Gentlemen.  Greetings again and in the context of this audience, may I add: Namaste, Namashkar, Kam Cho, Sat Sri Akaal and Salaam Walaikum.

Thank you for the invitation to attend this eleventh joint meeting of the two business councils.  As Governor-General and a New Zealander of Indian ancestry, there is a sense of history as well as great pleasure in speaking to you today.

What I would like to do is canvass three things:- the place of the Indian community in New Zealand, the community's role in New Zealand generally and the development of trade between our two countries.

New Zealand and India have much in common, including the English language, a parliamentary democracy, legal system, commonwealth ties and, I need hardly add - a fondness for cricket.

Those common ties also reflect a significant amount of Indian migration to New Zealand.  Last year's [2006] Census revealed that Indian migrants are in the fastest growing ethnic group in New Zealand. More than 104,000 Indians now live in New Zealand—which is a significant rise on the 2001 Census figures.

The history of people of Indian origin in New Zealand stretches back for more than a century. On that note, to mark Diwali this year, the Otago University Press will publish Indian Settlers: The Story of A New Zealand South Asian Community, by Dr Jacqueline Leckie a New Zealand historian. Dr Leckie faced a formidable task, but she has skilfully brought together a diverse and bountiful array of information that covers the Indian diaspora in New Zealand from broadly 1890 to about 1980, presenting it in an accessible and attractive fashion. 

According to Dr Leckie's research, a man named Phuman Singh Gill of Chirak village near Moga in Faridkot, Punjab, and his brother Bir Singh Gill were the first two known Indians to migrate to New Zealand about 1890.  There were, however, a few Indians in New Zealand before that time, who had either deserted from British ships or were servants of British nobility settling here.  The 1881 Census revealed three living in Canterbury, and one each in Auckland, Taranaki and Wellington.

Dr Leckie's book is the second about Indians in New Zealand to be published this year.  In February, I launched a book called Indians in Pukekohe by Uka Chiba a Gujerati Indian New Zealander who has subsequently died. That book presented a candid history of the challenges and triumphs of the first Indian settlers in that area (which is a centre of vegetable growing for local and export consumption), and those that followed.

Both of these books have illustrated the breadth of the contribution that has been made by Indian communities within New Zealand. They demonstrate how the entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic of people of Indian origin has become applied to disciplines from medicine to agriculture, from law to commerce, and how, in turn, this has helped New Zealand thrive.

Our country's Indian communities have not only contributed domestically, but have helped foster relations between our two countries.  May I add the observation that there seems to be no better time for New Zealand to nurture its relationship with India. India is growing economically stronger by the day and is asserting greater economic influence across the world.

The sheer size of India's economy means the trading potential this offers to countries such as New Zealand is significant.  Since the early 1990s, India has averaged more than six percent annual GDP growth.  In a recent issue marking 60 years of Indian independence, Time magazine forecast that by 2050, only China and the United States would surpass it in total GDP.

In recent years there has been increasing high-level ministerial visits between New Zealand and India, reflecting the growing importance that both nations are now placing on the relationship.  Both India and New Zealand have developed relationships with the ASEAN group and in 2003 India became a dialogue partner of the Pacific Forum, of which New Zealand is a founding member.

New Zealand has two economic relationships with India.  While services trade is growing substantially, trade in goods, while solid, remains poised for future growth.

Tourism, education and film have been the mainstay of the services trade with India.  About 20,000 people travel each way between India and New Zealand each year while more than 120 film crews have visited New Zealand from India in recent years.

The New Zealand Government's policy of offering domestic fees for international doctorate students has been particularly attractive to Indian students who, unlike many other Asian international students, prefer to do their undergraduate degrees at home and postgraduate study overseas. Some New Zealand Universities have also established relationships with Indian counterparts. About 3,000 students from India choose to study in New Zealand a year.

India is a significant trading partner of New Zealand's with merchandise exports to India in the year to June 2007 worth $357 million, an increase of 85 percent on 2004. Most of this trade is in primary produce, particularly coal, wool and logs.  Even so, the trade base is diversifying, with greater emphasis on specialised manufactured products.  New Zealand in return imports diamonds, electrical machinery and textiles.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade has identified a few key issues that currently inhibit trade between our two countries. One that this gathering could usefully address is the need for greater two-way investment. Other stumbling blocks identified are tariffs and non-trade barriers.

The relationship between our two countries then is based on many common linkages, including history, a Westminster constitutional heritage, language, sport, migration, cultural links and increasingly business ties.  As India aspires to a powerful place in topmost world affairs, I believe the success of the India community here in fostering positive inter-community relations will ensure there is a solid foundation upon which to foster and strengthen our inter-country relations.

On the note I have struck of optimism and of gathering strength I will close my remarks in New Zealand's first language, Maori issuing greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa