New Zealand Taxation & Financial News » India

FTA Negotiation for NZ and India

Editor — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:05:14 +0000

It has been agreed by New Zealand and Indian Trade Ministers Tim Groser and Kamal Nath, respectively, that India and New Zealand will commence bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.

The agreement is based on a Joint Study performed by the two countries which explored the benefits of a possible FTA between the two countries. Having reached an agreement that the study indicated definite positives for both nations it has been agreed that negations will commence. While no definite schedule has been released, Tim Goser has said that it is aimed at commencing before the end of 2009.

Tim Goser extolled many benefit of the FTA, specifically the fast growing nature of the Indian economy.

John Key to Attend APEC Summit

Editor — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:02:29 +0000

Prime Minister John Key is set to attend the APEC meeting in Lima, Per? on the 19th and 20th of November.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) is most likely going to be based around the current economic situation of the world and the possible responses of all countries involved in the meeting. If the recently finished G20 summit is any indication, the economic situation will be the primary talking point.

The meeting is attended by 20 world leaders, and over 3600 delegates. Figures show that the trade between APEC countries accounts for almost half of that in the world and nearly 60 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product.

John Key is scheduled to meet the Queen of England, and the British Prime minister after the APEC meeting.

The current APEC countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Laos, Bangladesh, Colombia and Ecuador are also seeking membership.

New Zealand Double Taxation Agreements

Editor — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:48:00 +0000

Double taxation agreements are tax treaties between two countries. These agreements come into effect when a person is a tax-resident of both New Zealand and another country.

Double Taxation agreements prevent the situation of taxation on one income by two countries, through coming to an agreement as to what incomes will be taxed in the country of residence and exempt in the country of occurrence. It also deals with the opposite case where the income will be taxed at the country of occurrence and compensation arises in the country of residence.
Double Taxation also extends to more comprehensive sharing of tax information between tax authorities.

New Zealand currently holds double taxation agreements with the following countries:

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Chile
China
Czech Republic
Denmark
Fiji
Finland-
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Malaysia
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Republic of Korea
Russian Federation
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
The Netherlands
The Philippines
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States of America

Free-trade Talks with ASEAN

Editor — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:29:37 +0000

It is expected that next week, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold talks with New Zealand and Australian ambassadors, possibly about a the feasibility of free-trade agreements.

It is expected that ASEAN will continue current talks this week in order to finalize a free-trade agreement between ASEAN and India. Pending the results of the discussion, next week could be used for talks with the ASEAN ambassadors of New Zealand and Australia. Predominantly the subject will be ensuring that the ASEAN-India free-trade agreement can be signed in December.

With the rising concern of ASEAN about the importance regional trading pacts in the face of continually rising powers like India and China, the possibility of talks about a free trade agreement between New Zealand and ASEAN is certainly a realistic discussion point.