INZBC PRESS RELEASE
08.03.2017
India has great potential to increase trade with New Zealand, says newly appointed Trade Commissioner / Consul General
designate of NZTE to Mumbai, Ralph Hays.
India NZ Business Council members, recently got a chance to meet the newly appointed Trade Commissioner / Consul General
designate of NZTE to Mumbai, to talk and discuss about the trade policies between India and New Zealand, that help
businesses. The event was held on Monday, 6th March 2017 at the NZTE office in Auckland.
Ralph was happy to have a direct interaction with members that came from different industries. “This was an opportunity
for me to discuss with the business on the ground, on what their problems are and how we can help them grow”, said
Ralph.
Ralph joined NZTE in 2010 as a Business Development Manager in Spain. In 2013 he was seconded to Brazil to help support
the Prime Minister Mission to South America which then lead on to a full-time position as TC Sao Paulo. Ralph has worked
across a range of different industry sectors in NZ, Australia, UK and Spain. His recent experience includes working as a
management accountant in the food and beverage sector and as a business analyst in the cruise industry. He would be
joining the Mumbai office soon.
The industry sectors represented at the event, ranged from Banking, to winery, education, finance, logistics,
infrastructure, aviation and many more. The dialogue gave some deep insights into the problems faced by the members. A
lot of discussion was around the problems being faced in the passing of the FTA.
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Member of Parliament who also attended the event, congratulated the newly appointed Trade
Commissioner and Consul General.
He said that both the governments are working very closely for better ties, more so after the last visit of John Key to
India and his meeting with Modi.
Mr. Wenceslaus Anthony, Head of Government Relations said, “INZBC always try to connect the members and the businesses
to the correct government agencies, so that they get the information from the horses mouth. Such events are an effort in
this direction”.
INZBC has had a good relation with the office of the Trade Commissioner in Mumbai, since it’s inception. When the office
was inaugurated in 2008, INZBC played an integral part in the opening of office. INZBC conducted a business summit,
where business leaders came from Mumbai and Delhi to attend it.
“We have had a very good relation with all the past Trade Commissioners, where we have invited them to speak to our
members on their appointment and also get their experience during or after their tenure. This has become a tradition”,
said Mr. Anthony.
Bhav Dhillon, Treasures of the council, also appraised the members of the upcoming Edutech Summit 2017, planned to be
held in the first week of August. He said, events of this scale and magnitude, add a lot of value to our members,
stakeholders and the NZ Inc. at large.
Ralph was presented with a brochure of the Summit as well.
For more details, you may go to our website: www.inzbc.org.