New Delhi: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal held a bilateral meeting with the New Zealand Minister for Trade, Todd McClay in New Delhi on Tuesday to bolster bilateral relations between the two countries, said the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday.

As per the official release, the meeting was aimed at strengthening the trade relations between India and New Zealand and exploring opportunities for mutual growth and cooperation.

Both leaders recognized the importance of trade facilitation and discussed measures to streamline trade processes, reduce trade barriers, and promote a more conducive environment for businesses and investors from both nations.

In this context, the Trade Minister of New Zealand appreciated the efforts made by India to sort out the issue related to the export of wooden logs to India. He also commended India's Presidency of G20 and the outcomes thereof, which are significant milestones as it seeks to find practical global solutions for the benefit of all.

"Both the Ministers acknowledged the longstanding friendly relations between the two countries built on the foundation of mutual trust and respect and expressed their commitment to further enhancing bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation. They highlighted the need to deepen engagement in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, pharma, connectivity, education and tourism," the Ministry said.

They acknowledged the strong step-up in engagement between businesses in the two countries, and the desirability of ensuring this provides impetus to the Government-to-Government dialogue.

"The importance of the annual meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC), established under the 1986 India-New Zealand Trade Agreement, and regular engagement at a senior level was also acknowledged. Ministers agreed that both sides should meet regularly, as convenient, for bilateral discussions on trade and investment issues and cooperative activities," the ministry added.

The Ministers also underscored the need to increase engagement between both countries under a collaborative approach that engages officials from across relevant departments and the private sector. The broad and informal engagements by creating working groups on specific areas of mutual interest are aimed at fresh ideas for new, innovative and productive approaches for economic partnership between both countries.

They emphasized that new initiatives should also focus on encouraging, facilitating and coordinating collaboration of technology and expertise for genuine mutual benefit and that the opportunities in each other's markets, which is of interest to businesses of both the countries should be explored.

Furthermore, the Ministers exchanged views on global trade dynamics and reaffirmed their support for a rules-based, transparent, and inclusive multilateral trading system. They also briefly discussed issues related to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC) and assured each other of cooperation and mutual understanding for a positive approach to decide on the long-standing issue of Public Stock Holding (PSH) during MC13.

Both Ministers expressed optimism about the potential for deeper cooperation and reiterated their commitment to continuing constructive dialogue to further strengthen the bilateral relationship. The meeting concluded on a positive note, with a mutual understanding to continue working closely towards expanding the economic partnership for the benefit of both countries, the Ministry said.