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New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Saturday hailed India's economic transformation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has been "a great fan of India" for many years and describing the country's progress as "incredible."
Addressing the India-New Zealand Business and Sports Engagement event in Auckland, Luxon recalled his first visit to India in the 1990s while working for Unilever and reflected on the country's remarkable economic journey over the past three decades. "For many of you, you would know that I have been a great fan of India for a long period of time. I first went to India in my mid 20s. That was because I worked for a country called Unilever, which owned Hindustan Lever, which was a top 10 company in India. 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 is 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. He added, "As someone who has been to India many times, to see the move from low income to middle income to high income - it is so inspiring and so exciting to see the transformation that has taken place." https://x.com/narendramodi/status/2075761447850975295?s=20 Luxon extended a warm welcome to Prime Minister Modi and thanked him for visiting New Zealand along with a delegation of Indian business leaders. "Can I just start by extending a very warm 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 his first meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Laos, Luxon said the Indian Prime Minister had shared with him the scale of India's infrastructure expansion and development initiatives, which he found inspiring. "When we first sat down together back in Laos, you kindly told me that you had done 147 airports, I think, in a very short period of time. You needed 2,000 more aircraft just to manage your domestic tourism and you were opening up universities and polytechnics on a regular basis. And as someone who has been to India many times and has seen the move from low-income to middle-income to high-income, it is just so inspiring and so exciting to see the transformation that has taken place," he said. Highlighting areas of potential cooperation, Luxon said India and New Zealand have significant opportunities to expand collaboration in agriculture, food, tourism, education and technology. "And of course, as the 1.4 billion Indian community 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. As I reminded the Prime Minister this morning, I said you know us as an agricultural nation, but we are now the third biggest launcher of rockets in the world and so we think there is lots of areas for us to collaborate," he said. Luxon further lauded the free trade agreement which can create the conditions for growth. Luxon also underlined the significance of the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, saying it would help create the conditions necessary for stronger economic growth, while emphasising that businesses would play the central role in translating those opportunities into tangible outcomes. "What I would say is that the Prime Minister and I, in a government sense at a top-to-top level, 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. And 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 about the role of governments, businesses and communities in driving national development, Luxon referred to Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl and said meaningful progress requires all three sectors to work together. "I am a big fan of a man called Viktor Frankl and he very famously wrote this book that I read when I was younger about the three big actors in our society. Government setting up the operating system for our country, business leaders moving with great speed, scale and execution and our community leaders who actually see the pain, the hurt, the need, the frustration in our communities and it is the three actors in our society that need to come together to realise the huge opportunities that India and New Zealand have together," he said. Luxon encouraged business leaders from both countries to deepen commercial engagement and urged New Zealand businesses to better understand the Indian market and its consumers. "So I just encourage all of you. Thank you very much for participating as business-to-business leaders. The responsibility for this relationship also sits with you and we wish you all the very best as you open up new markets and new opportunities by working together. To the New Zealand businesses in the room and those that may be watching, can I say, 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 be able to create opportunity both in India and here in New Zealand as well. So again, thank you very-very much for being here today. Thank you very-very much for all the commitment that you have made to advancing this relationship. Dhanyavaad," he said. (ANI)
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