OCT 2021 | VOL 3 ISSUE 03
The New Zealand-India Trade Magazine
INZBC Summit 2021: HIGHLIGHTS
the future of mobility
Bringing a billion people, more choices, convenience and an affordable mission: Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO, Ola
“We will be investing a record
$24.3 billion
Key takeaways from the first ever hybrid summit on ʻDecade of the new normal’
A POST COVID WORLD: Value beyond the dollar in International Education
into transport services and infrastructure over the next three years.”
NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant outlines how asset monetisation is the only way forward for India
ALSO INSIDE INDIA: AN EXCITING HUB FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Technology doesn’t just replace jobs, it also creates them: NZ Productivity Commission
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What’s in a Name? India’s Role in the Indo-Pacific
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CONTENTS KIA ORA INDIA |OCT 2021
6 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING Executive Briefing from Sunil Kaushal, Head, Strategic Partnerships at INZBC.
7 Mobility for New Zealand, Sustainability for the future
COLUMN BY INVEST INDIA
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How can New Zealand push down transport emissions and adapt in an increasingly sustainable energy world? Kia Ora India editor, Sunil Kaushal speaks to New Zealand Minister for Transport, Michael Wood on the future of mobility in New Zealand.
9 Vaccine delivery by drones? It happens only in India. As India starts trials for vaccine deliveries in Telengana, will we see a transformation in the way people live, access healthcare? Invest India explores this exciting new development in their column.
10 Bringing a billion people, more choices, convenience and an affordable mission: Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO, Ola FEATURE ON NZ PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION
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Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola shares his vision for the future of mobility with Ola as the company puts consumers at the core of its new mobility ecosystem.
12 A Post COVID world: Value beyond the dollar in International Education Online education, no matter how good, does not replace in-person experience. Auckland University of Technology’s Professor Guy Littlefair elucidates on the value of education beyond the dollar.
COLUMN BY OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION
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15 We recognise that for India, an economic relationship must go beyond the traditional buyer-seller model: Hon Nanaia Mahuta at the INZBC Summit 2021 Spread over two days and four engaging sessions, the INZBC Summit examined New Zealand and India’s position on the Indo- Pacific, Globalisation, trade and investments and delivered on its promise to bring together leaders of the business diaspora to restart this very important dialogue
INZBC EVENTS REPORT
INZBC.ORG
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20 Technology doesn’t just replace jobs, it also creates them: NZ Productivity Commission Take a peek into the future as Kia Ora India examines the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s Future of Work report and its current inquiry into New Zealand’s future immigration policies.
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October 2021 | KiaOra India | 3
CON T E NT S KIA ORA INDIA | OCT 2021
22 What’s in a Name? India’s Role in the Indo-Pacific To balance China’s growing might and its expanding influence, Washington and Tokyo began to work to bring New Delhi into the strategic equation - and thus began India’s strategic involvement in what is now known as the Indo-Pacific. Observer Research Foundation’s Manoj Joshi shares India’s then symbolic and now strategic position in the Indo-Pacific.
24 Is India’s Asset Monetisation plan the new set of reforms the world’s been waiting for? Private sector partnering with the Indian government to develop and grow the country’s infrastructure? As investor ears peak, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant outlines how asset monetisation is the only way forward for India.
26 Has the pandemic changed the trade balance in favour of India? New Zealand’s trade surplus with India shrank from $ 579 million to $ 78 million during the year ended June 2020-2021. Dr Rahul Sen, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics at Auckland University of Technology shares the reason behind this tilt in trade.
28 From import-dependency to selfreliance and now one of the main exporter in the global market Indian Pharma’s journey to the top It has been a long journey for the Indian pharmaceutical industry from being merely import-dependent to emerge as a self-reliant producer and now as one of the main export competitors in the
global market. What caused this shift in leadership? How did India grow to become the “Pharmacy of the world”? Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) explains.
30 INZBC EVENTS REPORT Vol 03 | Issue 03 - OCTOBER 2021 Publisher: India New Zealand Business Council Editorial Direction: Sunil Kaushal Content Development: Priti Garude Design & Production: Media Solutions Kiwi Ltd. Contributors in this issue: Aparajita Gupta, Amitabh Kant, Bhavish Aggarwal, Professor Guy Littlefair, Manoj Joshi, Dr Rahul Sen For Advertising, contributions & feedback contact: Garry Gupta, Secretary, INZBC. Email: secretariat@inzbc.org | +64 9 574 5220 Office Address: Suite 7, Palm Space Office Complex, 4343 Great North Rd, Glendene, Auckland 0612 Postal Address: PO Box: 20092, Glen Eden, Auckland 0641, New Zealand. Funded by: Publications Initiative, Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Government of New Zealand
Are You A Member Yet? go to inzbc.org for more information Follow us on social media:
FRO M T HE C HA I R KIA ORA INDIA | OCT 2021
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e have heard stories of organizations that have evolved and innovated to survive this pandemic. Changes to business model, digital transformations and hybrid working styles have resulted in a reimagined business ecosystem. To thrive in this new world, organisations need to be able to innovate quickly, not only now but even after this crisis subsides. Those who are more digitally mature may have an edge.
and transformed. Our cover story is an interview with the New Zealand Minister for Transport, Michael Wood who outlines the Government’s efforts to push down transport emissions and gives us a peek into the future New Zealand’s electric and hybrid cars ecosystem. Consequently, in this issue, we also bring perspective from Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog on a re-imagined approach to enhancing infrastructure investment to revive economic growth post COVID in India.
Since the onset of the Bhavish Aggarwal, pandemic, technology Co-founder and CEO of Since the onset of has transitioned from OLA gives us a peek into the the pandemic, being a strong supporter future of mobility with Ola. technology has to becoming the key transitioned from being enabler for humanity. On the back of a strong supporter In the last year or so, INZBC’s event with the to becoming the key emerging technologies Pharmaceuticals Export enabler for such as Artificial Promotion Council of India humanity. Intelligence, Machine (Pharmexcil), this issue Learning, predictive put a light on how the costanalytics, cloud containment measures of the computing, and big data New Zealand government can have paved new paths of be balanced by affordable opportunities across industries in India and Indian made generics. New Zealand. Auckland University of Technology shares A survey conducted by HCL for the value of international education beyond approximately 220 of Australia and New the dollar and India’s potential to become one Zealand’s largest organizations, found that of the global leaders in Artificial Intelligence about 55% of the respondents were expected is explored in an Invest India column that to invest in communication and collaboration breaks down the new regulatory framework tools, while 56% had started investing in for drones in the country. optimizing and managing digital workspaces as these aspects were considered critical There’s no doubt that COVID has added technological projects for ensuring business another layer of challenge to the status quo of resiliency, scalability and agility. conventional thinking – now, it’s upon decision makers and those in positions of power to In this issue of the Kia Ora India make sense of the massive volumes of data magazine, we explore the emerging from these emerging technologies to enhance technologies and industries that have, our way of life, for a better future. since the start of the pandemic, adapted SameerHandaNZ
Sameer Handa MNZM Chair, INZBC
Sameer Handa MNZM has been doing business with and in India for the past over two decades and has invaluable knowledge of both India and NZ markets. Currently, Mr Handa sits on the board of Bank of India (NZ) since 2012. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors NZ and is on the board of several New Zealand companies with interests in India, including his most recent foray in the lighting industry, Glowbal NZ Ltd.
Executive Briefing
Covid has completely changed technology as we know it. “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” But this phrase is probably inaccurate when it comes to what happened in technology, economy and politics in the last decade alone. Yet, the substance of the quote is quite powerful when we look back from March 2020 to present day of the coronavirus pandemic. A lot has happened in technology and technology adoption in an incredibly compressed time and at a fast pace. It has been a long, sad and painful time since the pandemic started, but with advanced technologies, we are able to endure many of the ills brought about by this pandemic, and technology seems to be the way out of it. There is light at the end of this long coronavirus tunnel, and vaccines are on the way to get us out of this pandemic. One of the great questions that is constantly being asked is what the “new normal” will look like after the pandemic. It can be summed up as, life after the pandemic “is going to be, in many aspects, a sped-up version of the world we knew.” And this is also applicable to technology and its role at the onset of the pandemic. The pandemic accelerated the adoption and implementation of many technologies that would have taken years, if not decades, to become mainstream. We have seen how we switched from our high-touch, highly analog daily interactions at work, school and entertainment venues to the exact opposite in a span of few weeks. Clearly, the pandemic accelerated the dominance of technology in our lives and made us more digital creatures, with all the advantages and drawbacks therein. It is possible to imagine the impact of technology in our “new normal” lives and the general trends that are already emerging by looking back at
previous pandemics and analyzing what is already happening now. Prior crises accelerated the adoption of technologies, such as the quick adoption of e-commerce in China after the SARS epidemic in 2005. Also, the 1918 pandemic invigorated research and innovation in microbiology, clinical infectious diseases and public health. Clearly, there will be an even faster acceleration of digitalisation and automation across the board. We have seen numerous in-person activities switch quickly and successfully to being delivered online. From virtual work from home to telehealth, distance learning, online shopping, entertainment, journalism and virtual physical activities such as yoga and fitness training, many activities managed to switch to online delivery.Work from home for knowledge workers seems to have been rather successful, with some productivity gains (you can read the interview with the NZ Productivity commission in this issue). But the big question is how it will look like after the pandemic. According to a Gartner survey, 82% of employers will allow employees to work remotely some of the time, and 47% say that they will do it all the time. The future of work, or at least where it will be done, will be highly virtual. We are already seeing video chat software such as Zoom, Teams and Slack playing a critical role in connecting employees to their jobs and connecting families and friends.
Many of these technologies have been around for some time, but they started to play a far more prominent role and will continue even after Covid-19. Two major technology trends will accelerate in the post-Covid-19 world: touchless technologies and highly automated robots that augment human tasks. It is likely that we will see additional robotic automation and AI in supply chains, customer service and beyond. With robots, the IoT and the increasing availability of 5G technologies, we will see an array of touchless technologies take off, such as robots that make your food or drinks. New devices and technologies will be designed with touchless-first or minimal-human-intervention principles. We already see examples of the acceleration in touchless technology and AI-driven automation adoption in airports with self-service check-in, where passengers create a digital token on their smartphone that can verify their identity. But the winner of all accelerated technological categories is biotechnology. Biotechnology made it possible to have vaccines that are safe with over 90% efficacy in the span of 22 months instead of the 10 years it used to take. With the publishing of the virus sequence in January 2020, the race began for a vaccine, and various technologies. How will your organisation embrace these new innovations as quickly as they evolved?
nzindmgt
Sunil Kaushal
Head of Strategic Partnerships, INZBC
Sunil Kaushal is one of the leading commentator on Business, Commerce and International Trade particularly focusing on India. He has first-hand on the ground experience in guiding New Zealand firms expand into India.
“We will be investing a record $24.3 billion into transport services and infrastructure over the next three years.” - michael wood
Mobility for New Zealand, Sustainability for the future – In conversation with Minister for Transport, Michael Wood How can New Zealand push down transport emissions and adapt in an increasingly sustainable energy world? On the back of New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission report released in June 2021, Kia Ora India editor, Sunil Kaushal spoke to New Zealand Minister for Transport, Michael Wood on the future of New Zealand’s electric and hybrid cars ecosystem. Can you tell us about the 202124 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP)?
the effect of climate related calamities like floods, earthquakes domestic trade?
The 2021-24 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) was released last week which outlines the planned investments Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will make over the next three years.
We know we have to keep driving down emissions and congestion by giving Kiwis more transport choices. This NLTP marks a stepchange with nearly $6 billion being invested in public transport and walking and cycling – a nearly 40 per cent increase compared to the previous three years. To further reduce emissions and help freight move efficiently, the NLTP delivers $1.3 billion to implement the NZ Rail Plan and $30 million to support coastal shipping. There will be further announcements on how this will support moving freight along the blue highway in the future.
The NLTP will drive the economic recovery by supporting thousands of jobs around the country. With local government, we’ll be investing a record $24.3 billion into transport services and infrastructure over the next three years – a 44 per cent increase compared to the last three years and 75 per cent more than the previous government. How does investment in NLTP support emission reduction? And how is the government countering INZBC.ORG
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Almost $7 billion will be invested on local road and state highway maintenance and a further $3.9 billion on road improvements that
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will help connect communities, ensure the reliable movement of freight and improve resilience of the network across the country. As a part of the record road maintenance investment is an emergency works contingency to help respond to weatherrelated events. With the introduction of the Clean Car Package, how is the government supporting the development of the national network of charging stations to increase the uptake of electric vehicles? The Government’s Clean Car Package will reduce millions of tonnes of emissions from the vehicle fleet includes rebates for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles with up to $8,625 for new vehicles and $3,450 for used to make clean cars more affordable for New Zealanders. October 2021 | KiaOra India | 7
Exclusive Interview: Michael Wood Extending the Road User Charges exemption for light electric vehicles to April 2024, will save owners around $800 a year. The Clean Car Import Standard will also mean more climate-friendly cars are available and giving families average lifetime fuel savings of nearly $7,000 per vehicle. Electric vehicle chargers are now available every 75km along most state highways to give Kiwis confidence. Low Emission Transport Fund will have nearly four times the funding by 2023 to continue to grow the nationwide EV charging network and support other low emission refuelling networks.
An Artist’s impression of the Airport-Botany Rapid Transit Project (NLTP website)
We have also established a Clean Car Sector Leadership Group to help increase uptake. We have also proposed Sustainable Biofuels Mandate to prevent over a million tonnes of emissions while Kiwis switch over to electric. Micromobility can help reduce emissions - is the government looking at increasing the uptake of these electric powered transport devices? Micromobility, such as e-scooters, are a useful tool for getting around our cities sustainably. We’re currently looking at what further work needs to be done to help encourage uptake. With a focus on mobility for New Zealand and sustainability for the future - will the government focus on the use of clean energy for charging stations? Will they be working in collaboration with industry bodies to create an ecosystem for EVs? In New Zealand, EVs emit 80 percent less CO2 than an equivalent petrol vehicle because electricity generated here is typically at least 80 percent renewable. We are 8 | KiaOra India | October 2021
Minister of Transport launching the largest ship simulator in the southern hemisphere at the NZ Maritime School.
partnering with the industry through our Clean Car Leadership Group to drive innovation and uptake of clean cars. The Group includes Drive Electric, Sustainable Business council, Motor inzbc
Industry Association, Vehicle Importers Association, The Akina Foundation, Consumer New Zealand and Vector Limited.”
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INZBC.ORG
Column: Invest India
Vaccine delivery by drones? It happens only in India. As India starts trials for vaccine deliveries in Telengana, will we see a transformation in the way people live, access healthcare? Invest India explores this exciting new development in their column.
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3D printed house, a blockchain enabled platform for digital verification of start-ups, recognition of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool as co-author by a Copyright Office and launch of a drone- based afforestation project have a common thread that binds them together. These are some of the recent examples of emerging technologies being used and recognized in India. While the last year and a half has been extremely tough for people around the world due to Covid-19, emerging technologies have come to the rescue of people in India. We saw drones flying in air to assist our frontline workers and police, robots helping to disinfect hospitals and 3D printers producing face shields (part of Personal Protective Equipment or PPE) and creating ventilator splitters to split oxygen supply from a single source to help two patients. These are just a few illustrations of the critical role played by these technologies during the pandemic. To facilitate use of various kinds of emerging technologies, the Indian Government has come out with strategy documents and enabling regulations. In June 2018, the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence was released. It emphasized on India’s potential to become one of the global leaders in this area with a unique brand of “#AIforAll”. To position itself as one of the leading countries when it comes to harnessing the benefits of blockchain, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has come out with a draft of the National Strategy on Blockchain. When it comes to 3D printing, MeitY recognized that the industry was expected to reach USD 35.6 billion by 2023 and therefore published a dedicated strategy document for the same. Liberalizing the regulatory framework for drones, the Ministry of Civil Aviation recently notified the new Rules. The Government now aims to make India a global drone hub by 2030. With this background, we will further delve into some of the key developments related to drones. As highlighted above, India has notified the Drone Rules, 2021 which repeal the earlier Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2021. Here, it is important to note that the earlier rules were notified only a few months back. But considering the feedback received from stakeholders and end
Aparajita Gupta Senior Investment SpecialistTechnology and Online Gaming Invest India
users, the Government decided to replace the earlier rules with more liberalized ones. This demonstrates the Government’s proactiveness in listening to the industry and formulating a conducive regulatory framework. These new Rules have been built on the foundation of trust, non-intrusive monitoring, and self-certification. Several approvals have also been done away with. The number of forms has been reduced from 25 to 5 and types of fees have been drastically cut down from 72 to 4. A significant point worth highlighting is that there is no restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies. As per the Rules, the Government may publish a policy framework which will include a framework for developing corridors for transfer of goods by drones. Under these Rules, the coverage of drones has been increased from 300kg to 500kg. Therefore, this will also cover drone taxis. Coming to the convenience of users, the Digital Sky Platform shall be developed as a single window system. Most of the permissions are expected to be self-generated and there will be minimum human interface. Another pathbreaking development has been the conditional exemption granted to certain entities to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) experimental flights of drones. These trials were allowed with a view to help create future frameworks for drone deliveries. In August 2021, a BVLOS trial run for delivery of medicines by drones was successfully conducted in Karnataka. In Vikarabad (Telangana), vaccine delivery trials by drones are expected to start in September. These trial runs mark a crucial milestone for the drone industry. Such delivery of essentials via drones will prove to be a boon especially for people living in remote areas and in difficult terrains. In the future, India may even see drone delivery of other goods (including Pizzas) just like New Zealand which saw the world’s first delivery of Pizza by a drone. Thus, India holds lots of exciting opportunities in the emerging technology space on the foundation of an enabling regulatory environment. The views expressed are personal.
investindia Aparajita Gupta is a lawyer from National Law University, Delhi. She has worked with NITI Aayog (erstwhile Planning Commission of India), Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and L&L Partners (a top tier Indian law firm).
Bringing a billion people, more choices, convenience and an affordable mission: Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO, Ola
Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola shares his vision for the future of mobility with Ola as the company puts consumers at the core of its new mobility ecosystem. As Ola and our various businesses grow, I sometimes get asked how they connect with each other. So I want to share our vision of the future of mobility, which we call New Mobility, and how we’re building it. Through the ages, human progress has been closely tied to advancements in mobility. The wheel, the steam engine, internal combustion and jet engines, cars, planes are all mobility inventions that transformed our lives and made movement safer, faster, efficient, convenient and accessible to more and more people. The IC engine, automobiles and the related ecosystem is a remnant of the past and assumes unsustainably high ownership of vehicles manufactured by OEMs and sold through dealers. Consumers have been downgraded to being just a cog in this giant wheel. This is best indicated by Henry Ford’s – ‘You can have whatever colour you want, as long as it’s black’. Try saying that to an ecommerce customer today! In India just 2% (30mn) people own a 4W and only 12% (160mn) own a 2W. That means more than a billion people in India have been shut out of mobility by this system! New mobility is fixing this archaic system by making mobility universally accessible, sustainable, personalised and convenient. To do this both shared and personal mobility will grow significantly in India through a combination of purpose built EVs lowering costs, digital retail driving convenience and the cloud enabling personalisation.
Ola is building this New Mobility ecosystem with the consumer at the core. The 3 pillars of this new ecosystem are: New Mobility Services, New Energy Vehicles and New Auto Retail. These three pillars amplify and enhance the impact of each other as part of an integrated Ola New Mobility Platform. New Mobility Services Today Ola provides multi-modal mobility access to 100M people through Taxis, auto rickshaws, 2Ws, day hires, outstation rides etc. But this is just 7% of India’s population. We will bring this multi-modal mobility to all 1.3B people by Ola designed EVs customised for the diverse shared mobility needs. EVs are 80% cheaper to run so the service will be more affordable and accessible to all. Further, with miniaturisation and high energy density (neither possible in traditional vehicles) our EVs also create the opportunity for custom vehicle form factors serving many more use cases, better. As you use our service more frequently, we will create your unique mobility persona in our cloud and will personalise your experience across shared and personal vehicles. This will also enable new usage models like vehicle subscriptions. We already see strong adoption of our multi-modal platform across Ola’s 150 cities. As we expand to 500 towns and bring shared mobility to 500mn people, the multi-modal offerings will grow substantially and will be central to driving affordability and access for these 500mn people.
inzbc 10 | KiaOra India | October 2021 INZBC.ORG india new zealand business council
Feature: Ola Electric
New Energy Vehicles 40% of air pollution in India is due to vehicles. This is when just 15% of India owns a vehicle today! This number will grow exponentially as we provide more affordable options for shared and personal mobility. So we will do this through EVs to ensure us and our planet can breathe free! We have already moved forward here with our Futurefactory, the largest 2W factory in the world building the first in our range of scooters – the Ola S1, the best scooter ever made. In the coming quarters we will expand our EV range with more scooters, bikes and cars. Our EVs are smart, connected AI machines and will leapfrog current personal vehicles that are dumb mechanical devices. They will serve diverse needs through a variety of form factors including kick scooters, e-bikes and yes even drones and flying cars while costing 80% less to run compared to IC engines! This will cause vehicle ownership to explode to 40% of the population with 50mn 2Ws and 10mn 4Ws sold per year in India in the coming years. New Auto Retail Not just the vehicles but the 100+ year old model of dealership based sales and service, standard financing and insurance and unorganised used vehicle sale/ purchase is also out of date and needs to change. We have already built a powerful digital retail platform that bypasses physical infrastructure and hosted the largest automotive launch in history with the Ola S1. In future we will open up this platform to other OEMs too giving them unparalleled digital distribution. It will bring consumers wide multi-brand choice online, at home test rides, personalised financing, insurance and more. The existing ecosystem of dealers will play an important role in this future but in a new paradigm.
Ola’s advanced telematics platform (some of which is already built into our S1 EVs) will provide real time analysis of usage and vehicle and road condition data to provide better driving experience, predictive maintenance, better insurance and financing. This will also create a more trustworthy ecommerce marketplace for used vehicles with real time pricing and digital access. This is what we’re doing with Ola Cars – reimagining not just buying and selling but the end to end ownership experience of used and new vehicles. Ola Cars is in 30 cities today and will scale up to 100 next year. We are living through a once in a century rewiring of the entire mobility industry. Modes, vehicle form factors, energy sources, distribution are all fundamentally changing. India has the opportunity to leapfrog old mobility and adopt New Mobility. Ola has a unique and significant advantage here being the only mobility company in the world that does the hardware (EVs), software and service (shared mobility services and auto retail) entirely inhouse plus has the deepest understanding of urban mobility needs of consumers. We will lead the development of new technologies and build this future of new mobility to bring a billion people more choice, convenience and affordable mission. This is our mission – mobility for a billion, sustainability for the future! Let’s move!
bhash
Bhavish Aggarwal Co-founder and CEO Ola Cabs
Bhavish Aggarwal is the Co-founder and CEO of Ola Cabs. He was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
Column: Education by AUT
A Post COVID world: Value beyond the dollar in International Education Online education, no matter how good, does not replace in-person experience. Auckland University of Technology’s Professor Guy Littlefair elucidates on the value of education beyond the dollar.
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igher education as an industry is changing in the second year, which can only be described as the decade of the new normal. More and more, the need for a-synchronous, online distance learning to ensure a pipeline of international students is becoming apparent. How we, as a sector do this without impacting the unique value of international education is a big question. The value of international students attending Universities in person is far greater than the revenue which universities derive directly. International students support: • Significant depth to our research endeavours, our tourism industry and local businesses. • The economy through taxation when they are working. • Expanding the diversity of our cities which builds a tolerant and respectful society. • Furthering the reach and impact of the country they have studied in when they return home. It is difficult to see how this indirect value could be replicated by shifting to mass online education. Complications to the effectiveness of this mass model are illustrated through the right to work in the country of study that students receive after completing their courses in many foreign nations. For example, in New Zealand, international online study is not sufficient for obtaining post-study work rights. Were this to change, it would likely increase demand, and we would respond and invest more in tailored offerings to meet that demand.
However, what is possible is the development of strategic alliances with universities and industry partners in other countries. Through partnership, universities can develop joint programmes for learning and joint research initiatives. India, for example, has recently announced it will allow foreign universities to “set up shop,” and again, this is the strategic alliance direction and it is
Many international students seek a real in-country experience as part of their personal development. Online education, no matter how good it is, does not replace in-person experience. likely that this will continue to be based on the traditional “bricks and mortar” models. Universities need to prioritise high quality digitally delivered programmes of study, which will be locally augmented by face to face or small group peer learning. It is important to remember that many international students seek a real in-country experience as part of their personal development. Online education, no matter how good it is, does not replace in-person experience. Auckland has just been named the world’s most liveable city. As a country, New Zealand has been featured positively in the international press. At the Auckland University of Technology, we are focused on delivering the highest quality education to international students. We strive for quality over quantity. This goal is vital to New
Zealand to uphold the brand and reputation in the global market that we have worked hard to achieve. We need to ensure this is not damaged. Once we see an opening of our border, we will be the destination of choice for more students than pre-COVID. If we look to pre-COVID to further illustrate the value of international education in 2019, 16 per cent of New Zealand’s new to country international student cohort were from India; that is more than 17,000 who chose to take a leap of faith, move their lives, leave their families, undertaking study in Aotearoa New Zealand, across the education sector. More than 3,000 of those students started study at one of New Zealand’s eight universities. AUT was the university of choice for 30 per cent of these students. AUT, as New Zealand’s leading University of Technology, is uniquely attractive for international students, ranking in the top percentile of universities worldwide, first in New Zealand universities for international outlook, and positioned in the heart of Auckland City, which has been named the most liveable city in the world in 2021 ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit. However, and perhaps most importantly, AUT is popular with so many international students as it understands the true value of International Education. The monetary value of international education to Aotearoa New Zealand was $5.23 billion in 2019, securing it as the fifth largest export industry. With such a significant monetary impact, it is easy to get caught in
inzbc 12 | KiaOra India | October 2021 INZBC.ORG india new zealand business council
the value of international education from this fiscal perspective. This intrinsic value should be considered from many angles; the benefit to the majority; greater inter-cultural understanding and competency in our society, the collective knowledge, learning and experience that welcoming international students to our shores can contribute. The benefit to the individual; the broadened experience that travelling and experiencing international education can have on the student, shaping perspective and giving life-long value.
valuable work experience at a small automotive garage in Twickenham, West London. This garage was where the first seeds of Ashwin’s PhD studies were sown by looking at the process involved to shape and cut to size the metals involved in the automotive industry. This new interest gradually developed further, and Ashwin was encouraged to seek opportunities worldwide for PhD enrolment. Shortly after, Ashwin and I were connected through a past colleague. I had just started the second innings of my academic career at AUT university. Ashwin took a leap of faith, and moved to New Zealand in October 2007 to pursue his PhD at AUT, with me as his supervisor. Ashwin describes this as life-changing, I would agree. Our collaboration on many projects has been transformational for us both, personally and professionally. After completing his PhD at AUT, Ashwin moved to Melbourne, Australia in December 2012 to take up a senior research fellow at Deakin University, then returned to AUT and New Zealand in 2018 to establish his family. Ashwin feels being a Kiwi has inspired him and his family to dream big, be independent and achieve whilst remaining humble and grounded, continuing to enjoy and learn from the honest and straightforward Kiwi lifestyle. Ashwin is now relishing opportunities in international engagement, particularly with India, to give back and act as an ambassador on an international platform. As the saying goes, “Good things come in small packages” New Zealand and Ashwin are both excellent examples of this.
To better articulate this value, I would like to share the story of a dear colleague and friend of mine, Ashwin Polishetty.
If Ashwin could give students who are considering international education any advice, it would be: 1. When opportunities knock, grab them and turn them in your favour.
Ashwin hails from Hyderabad and grew up with a passion for engineering, following in his father’s footsteps.
2. Work can bring unexpected achievements. Be prepared to learn from failures. Keep your feet grounded in success.
Ashwin’s journey to international education started in January 2003 when he enrolled in a Master of Mechanical Engineering at Dalarna University, Sweden. It was an opportunity to explore a new life. Ashwin describes this as his first experience of the importance of Saturday night in European work culture.
3. Lastly, honesty is the best policy.
November 2004, after completing his masters, Ashwin moved to London, the United Kingdom, to explore Europe more broadly. This move allowing Ashwin to gain
Professor Guy Littlefair Pro Vice-Chancellor International, Dean of the Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies; Auckland University of Technology
International education broadens the diversity of our societies. It fosters understanding, respect and tolerance. It can raise people from poverty, provide opportunities and even hope. It makes a difference to the individual, their family, our communities and the world. I hope you take every opportunity to experience this value beyond the dollar.
guylittlefair Prior to his return to AUT in 2017, Professor Littlefair held a successful role as the Dean of Engineering in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment at Deakin University in Australia. Combined with an academic career spanning 25 years, Professor Littlefair has also had the opportunity to spend time in the industry, most recently at Navman where he oversaw the integration of the Mercury Marine business when the company was acquired by the Brunswick Group.
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INZBC Summit Special
We recognise that for India, an economic relationship must go beyond the traditional buyer-seller model: Hon Nanaia Mahuta at the INZBC Summit 2021 Spread over two days and four engaging sessions, the INZBC Summit examined New Zealand and India’s position on the Indo- Pacific, Globalisation, trade and investments and delivered on its promise to bring together leaders of the business diaspora to restart this very important dialogue.
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e bold, develop partnerships, and look for opportunities beyond the traditional trade model – this was the central theme that
emerged at the first-ever hybrid summit organised by the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) on June 23 – 24, 2021 at Trusts Arena in Henderson, Auckland.
Held for first-time in a physical venue on Day 1 as well as broadcasted virtually for a global audience on both the days, the Summit brough together a line-up
Welcome note by Sameer Handa MNZM, Chair, INZBC & Director, Glowbal NZ
Introduction to the Minister by Dr. Gaurav Sharma (Via video) MP for Hamilton West
Keynote address by Hon Nanaia Mahuta (Via video) Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Local Government, and Associate Minister for Māori Development
Keynote address by Shri V Muraleedharan (Via video) Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India
of diplomats, business leaders, government and industry bodies, experts and academics from New Zealand and India, to discuss the various issues of diplomacy & trade that affect this new world order. Spread over two days and four engaging sessions, the Summit examined New Zealand and India’s position on the IndoPacific, Globalisation, trade and investments. In his welcome speech on the first day of the Summit, Sameer Handa MNZM, Chairman of INZBC, welcomed the strong
participation of 400 in-person and virtual attendees and set the tone of the Summit by putting a spotlight on India and New Zealand’s bilateral relationships in this new normal. He said, “While bilateral economic relations have grown significantly since they started in 1952, the pandemic and its associated challenges have prompted a need to rethink this relationship beyond trade flows and reframe the dialogue to strategically think beyond market access.” Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Local Government and Associate
Minister for Maori Development in her keynote address, picked up on the chairman’s speech and acknowledged the government’s work in looking at opportunities beyond the traditional model. She said, “While trade is crucially important for our respective economic recoveries, we recognise that for India, an economic relationship must go beyond the traditional buyer/ seller model. We have taken careful note of India’s SelfReliant India campaign and are exploring how New Zealand can best support India’s development
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INZBC Summit Special
Keynote address by H.E. Muktesh Pardeshi; Panel discussion on ‘INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGIC TIES’ with Bhav Dhillon, Prof. Manjeet Pardesi and virtual guests Rino Tirikatene, Hon. David Pine, Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, Suzannah Jessep
Keynote address by Deepak Bagla (Via video); Keynote address by Akshay Mathur (Via video); Panel discussion on ‘GLOBALISATION: POSTCOVID SCENARIO’ with Deidre Otene, Prof. Guy Littlefair, Kevin Jenkins, Sunil Kaushal and Ralph Hays (Via video)
The panel discussion on day one focused on the IndoPacific strategic ties and Globalisation scenarios post COVID-19, which echoed similar themes and insights as highlighted by the ministers and the commissioners. more relevant in the future. India’s vibrant start-up ecosystem provides opportunities for collaborations that can help us define and adjust to the ‘new normal’.” ambitions and offer the expertise and capability that India most values. As part of this, we are looking at how to grow New Zealand’s investment footprint in India.” This was in-line with a recorded keynote address delivered by the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, who offered an insight into India’s investment landscape. He said, “India is not just a large market, but a diverse market and stronger economic interactions through technology tie-ups and collaborations would be INZBC.ORG
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india new zealand business council
Minister Mahuta also addressed New Zealand’s focus on building an inclusive, transparent and rules-based Indo-Pacific. Calling India as a not only a rising but responsible power, Minister Mahuta said, “India is and will continue to be an immensely influential and prominent actor in building that kind of a region. We both have a deep stake in the region’s stability. And by working together we are better-placed to address the complex array of challenges facing it – from the economic and health crises arising out of the pandemic, October 2021 | KiaOra India | 17
‘KiaOra India’ June 2021 was launched by the Indian High Commissioner H.E. Muktesh Pardeshi. The summit was attended by over 90 New Zealand and Indian companies, physically and virtually.
to climate change, and the myriad of geostrategic challenges across the Indo-Pacific.” Along similar lines, His Excellency, Muktesh Pardeshi, Indian High Commissioner of New Zealand shared India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific. He said, “India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific is a positive one that includes all nations in the geography and beyond who have a stake in it. ASEAN centrality and unity lie at the heart of this IndoPacific. The Vision emphasises the importance of building infrastructure and connectivity, based on principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, consultation, good governance, and sustainability.” The panel discussion on day one focused on the Indo-Pacific strategic ties and Globalisation scenarios post COVID-19, which echoed similar themes and insights as highlighted by the ministers and the commissioners. The conversation on Day two revolved around business and trade ties in this new normal. Minister
of State for Trade and Export Growth, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control and Associate Minister for the Environment and Immigration, Phil Twyford’s virtual address focused on how New Zealand is looking at strengthening ties beyond trade agreement. He said, “RCEP is, of course, not the only way these ties can be strengthened, and the Government is enthusiastic about exploring other options for economic cooperation, including at the state level – recognising that India is a proud federal union of 28 states and 9 union territories, each with considerable autonomy and a distinctive cultural and economic identity.” This was followed by a keynote address by Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog who outlined key areas of growth in India and how they can help in a postpandemic recovery. On the whole, the Summit concluded on its promise of bringing together leaders of the India and New Zealand business diaspora to restart this very important dialogue.
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INZBC Summit Special Keynote speech by Hon Phil Twyford, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth, Associate Minister for the Environment and Associate Minister of Immigration; Keynote speech Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog (Via video)
The panel discussion on day two focused on trade regulations and changing scenarios in the service sector, wherein the speakers concentrated on the growth, challenges and potential in individual industries such as dairy, Fin-tech, health, mobility and more.
Panel discussion on ‘TRADE REGULATIONS – THE NEW NORMAL’ with Ravi Udaya Bhaskar, Stephen Jacobi, Esther Guy-Meakin, Bharat Joshi, Dr Divya Jaitly and Michael Fox
Panel discussion on ‘SERVICES SECTOR – CHANGING SCENARIOS AND CHALLENGES’ with Prashant Kumar, Carmen Vicelich, Adhil Shetty, Prof. Anupam Sibal, Knight Hou and Sandeep Sharma
6 key takeaways from the Summit: 1
The Summit facilitated business transactions and connections among 90 New Zealand and Indian companies, 200 attendees.
2
The Summit continued the conversation between India & New Zealand which was affected due to COVID and lack of travel. The Summit enabled Kiwi companies and their counterparts in India to get the most recent insights into both countries.
3
Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan; Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth, Phil Twyford and Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog made statements about India and New Zealand relationship at the Summit that will make a difference on a policy level.
4 The conversation went beyond just trade - the conversation at the summit was more holistic and covered themes that are relevant in a COVID era. It underlined the need to have a holistic relationship between both the countries and not just trade. 5 It deepened relationships, and deepened awareness of opportunities for NZ and Indian businesses. 6
Exposed New Zealand companies to the opportunities that India as a market presents
Feature: Productivity Commission
Technology doesn’t just replace jobs, it also creates them: NZ Productivity Commission Take a peek into the future, as Kia Ora India examines the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s Future of Work report and its current inquiry into New Zealand’s future immigration policies.
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echnology, and its rapid development and adoption, is one of the critical dynamics in the changing world of work. While technological innovation and disruption is nothing new, the increasingly pervasive nature of disruptive technologies and the pace of change will create both opportunities and risks. Understanding the importance of these changes, and a need to manage future opportunities and risks, in February 2019, the New Zealand Minister of Finance, the Minister of Education, the Minister for Economic Development, the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and the Minister for Government Digital Services requested the Productivity Commission to undertake an inquiry into how New Zealand can maximise the opportunities and manage the risks of disruptive
technological change and its impact on the future of work and the workforce. The Productivity Commission is an independent Crown entity that provides evidencebased analysis and advice about ways to improve productivity in New Zealand. In March 2020, the Commission delivered its final report, which contained 35 findings and made 18 recommendations. As a next step in this review of the wellbeing of New Zealanders, the Government
asked the Commission this year to advise on what immigration policies are fit for New Zealand’s future. The inquiry will focus on New Zealand’s “working-age” immigration system and make recommendations on changes that would best promote “long-term economic growth and the wellbeing of New Zealanders.” A draft report with proposed recommendations will be released in October 2021. A final report will be presented to the Government in April 2022. Why does this inquiry matter? New Zealand has experienced some of the fastest population growth in the OECD, based in large part
on international immigration, and migrant labour plays a significant role in many New Zealand firms and industries. The closure of the border in response to COVID-19 has raised some fundamental questions: Is the immigration system providing the best social, economic and environmental returns for New Zealand? Would different policy settings better promote the wellbeing of New Zealanders?
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Migrants make a significant contribution to the fabric of New Zealand society. When they choose to move to New Zealand, they bring with them skills, talents, knowledge, experience, international connections and financial, social and cultural capital. But despite the important role migrants play, the immigration system has not had a fundamental review since the 1990s. This is now needed. As countries start to plan their economic recovery from COVID-19, many have been looking again at their immigration policies, to ensure they can get the people and skills they need. New Zealand competes with many of these countries for attracting talent. The Productivity Commission has been asked to review and advise the Government on what immigration policies are fit for New Zealand’s future. The Commission’s job is to take a longer 10−30 year view and to think about what New Zealand’s immigration system should be trying to achieve, and how it can best do that. It will take a system-wide view, and consider issues outside the details of visa categories (eg, housing, infrastructure, population) and make proposals the Government may not ordinarily consider. Some of the categories that are under consideration include honouring the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Ao Māori perspectives, immigration policy design, productivity and wellbeing, migrant settlement,
Emerald Lake, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India
obligations on employers, skill shortages, population growth and migration volumes. This report may supplement the findings of last year’s ‘Technological change and the Future of Work’ report that found that technology doesn’t just replace jobs, it also creates them. Technology has many effects on the labour market, some of which are positive for workers, the quality of work, and jobs. Predictions that technology will inevitably replace work are simplistic and out of step with historical experience. The report reveals that there is little sign of imminent disruption to work. It outlines, “Recent advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics can give the impression that the current pace of technological change is accelerating. It is difficult to directly measure the speed of technological change. But we can try to measure technological change by looking at indicators from the wider economy and labour market, where technology might be expected to have an impact. These indicators include productivity growth, business start-up rates, average job tenure and occupational churn. Across the developed world, these indicators consistently point to static or slowing technological change.”
What’s in a Name?
India’s Role in the Indo-Pacific To balance China’s growing might and its expanding influence, Washington and Tokyo began to work to bring New Delhi into the strategic equation - and thus began India’s strategic involvement in what is now known as the Indo-Pacific. Observer Research Foundation’s Manoj Joshi shares India’s then symbolic and now strategic position in the Indo-Pacific.
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he notion of the Indo-Pacific has recently become widely used, particularly in the United States, India, Japan, and Australia, and has almost replaced the earlier term “Asia-Pacific.” In Russia, this change of geopolitical terminology is usually seen through the prism of the U.S.-China confrontation and Washington’s determination to strengthen America’s position in that part of the world by engaging India on its side. Yet India is developing its own conceptual constructs, which may carry the same name, but are based on New Delhi’s view of the world and national interests. The term “Asia-Pacific,” which was first coined in the United States, excluded South Asia. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which staged high-profile annual summits from the 1990s through the 2010s, does not include India as a full member. As for India itself, following
the end of the Cold War, it began to come up with new geopolitical concepts that reflected the dramatically changed international environment.
hand, India looked eastward, and on the other, toward the Indian Ocean.
The foundations of India’s current Indo-Pacific policy were laid at the turn of the twentyfirst century. In the aftermath of The diplomatic and economic facet the 1998 Indian nuclear tests, the of New Delhi’s strategy began with United States began a policy of the “Look East” policy of the P. V. Narasimha Rao government in 1991: rapprochement with India, which led to closer Indo-U.S. ties. an effort to cultivate economic and strategic relations with Southeast The next stage in Indo-U.S. Asia, in a marked shift in India’s interaction occurred in the wake of global outlook following the Cold the devastating tsunami of December War. It was also seen as an important 26, 2004, which killed some 225,000 component of India’s decision to people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, open up its economy and take Thailand, and India. At the initiative advantage of the dynamic East Asia of then U.S. president George W. region. Bush, the United States, Australia, India’s strategic thinking was shaped India, and Japan formed a coalition to provide immediate assistance by the fact that it has serious disputes with Pakistan to its west and to those affected. Although the China to the north, which limits its coalition lasted merely a week, it overland communications and trade formed the basis of the notion of a with those regions. So on the one quadrilateral grouping: the Quad.
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Column: Observer Research Foundation A proposal to formalize the group was put forward by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2006, but came to nothing.
to check China. Trump’s successor Joe Biden regards China as the main challenger to U.S. global primacy, and is busy building a “coalition of democracies” aimed at outcompeting China on a wide range of issues, mainly economic.
security role west of the Malacca straits in the Indian Ocean, where it has considerable natural advantages.
India recognizes the centrality of ASEAN to its Indo-Pacific strategy, Since then, the steep rise of China but in the region, its key political and its increasing assertiveness— and economic ties remain anchored evidenced by developments in the in the city-state of Singapore. It has The Quad grouping, however, East and South China seas, as well failed to build significant ties with remains an instrument of any U.S. as the growing importance of the other ASEAN states, even Vietnam, Indo-Pacific strategy. The goal Asia-Pacific region as a whole— with which it had long had an important relationship. In that sense, of that strategy, as articulated in have triggered a number of policy it is unable to play a larger role of a declassified U.S. government moves by various countries. To counterbalancing Chinese power in document at the beginning of 2021, balance China’s growing might is “maintaining U.S. strategic primacy” the region. and its expanding influence, in the region. For that, Washington Washington and Tokyo began to As of now, India’s role in the Western needs a credible democratic work to bring New Delhi into the Pacific region remains symbolic, and partner on the Asian continent strategic equation. To achieve in the Indo-Pacific context, confined that, they modified their strategic and in the Indian Ocean area. With to the “Indo,” or the Indian Ocean concepts around the notion of the that in mind, the United States is Region (IOR). Even here it is feeling willing “to accelerate India’s rise “Indo-Pacific.” the pressure from China, which has and capacity.” made significant inroads into South True, India is not a significant Asia and the IOR. India’s neighbors, economic or military player east of New Delhi may, of course, have a such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Malacca Straits. But to the west different point of view, and is not Sri Lanka, and Myanmar have of the straits, its geography makes committed to these goals. Unlike the developed strong ties with Beijing, it a major anchor for any strategy other Quad nations, it does not have which has already developed that links the Pacific with the Indian any formal military ties to the United substantial trading links with the IOR Ocean. India shares maritime and States. But India will not hesitate as a whole. land borders with four out of the to take advantage of the grouping ten ASEAN states. Jutting out 2,000 to enhance its own political and India’s future ambitions depend kilometers into the Indian Ocean, economic profile in the region. on the trajectory of its economy. India also sits astride key sea lanes By opting out of the Regional and dominates the western end of Even though there is a great deal Comprehensive Economic the Malacca Straits. of activity around the Quad, it is clear Partnership free trade agreement, New Delhi has forfeited an that New Delhi is in no position to play a significant military role outside opportunity to participate in a vital ASEAN countries themselves new economic grouping that could its neighborhood. Confronting remained ambivalent: they have added zest to its Indo-Pacific China somewhere in the Western welcomed the U.S. presence in strategy. This has already begun Pacific, 5,000 kilometers away, is the region, but since they also limiting its naval ambitions and the enjoy close economic ties to China, not credible when the Chinese are ability to play the role into which sitting along a large chunk of India’s they refused to participate in many expect the Quad is hoping to land borders. In any case, India lags any confrontation with Beijing. evolve: that of an informal military behind China in almost all elements The ASEAN reluctance to directly alliance or pressure group. of comprehensive national power, involve itself in the U.S. Indo-Pacific including its military. East of Malacca, This commentary originally appeared strategy pushed Washington to in Carnegie Moscow Center. India can at best play a symbolic take another course. In 2017, as role as an ally of the United States U.S.-Chinese rivalry escalated into and Japan, and seek a payoff in confrontation, President Donald pushing its own economic growth Trump’s administration dusted off agenda amid the U.S.-Chinese the old Quad format to serve as an instrument of its Indo-Pacific strategy estrangement. It could play a strong
orfonline
Manoj Joshi Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation
Manoj Joshi is a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. He has been a journalist specialising on national and international politics and is a commentator and columnist on these issues. As a reporter, he has written extensively on issues relating to Siachen, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka and terrorism in Kashmir and Punjab.
India’s FM Nirmala Sitharaman unveils INR 6 Lakh Crore Centre Asset Monetisation Plan, Railways among top sectors
Is India’s Asset Monetisation plan the new set of reforms the world’s been waiting for? Private sector partnering with the Indian government to develop and grow the country’s infrastructure? As investor ears peak, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant outlines how asset monetisation is the only way forward for India. Sustained economic growth is the key to India’s power. Infrastructure without a doubt lies at the heart of this growth story. Infrastructure is inextricably linked to growth by its inherent ability to supports livelihoods, drive businesses, generate employment and in effect determine quality of life. Top quality well managed Infrastructure holds the key to growth and job creation. With the COVID taking an unprecedented toll on the economic activity in the country, significantly enhanced level of infrastructure investment is required for reviving growth. Covid has also bought to fore, the need for resilient, sustainable and advanced infrastructure systems. Investing huge sums into creating world class infrastructure will lead to a high trajectory of growth, but this essentially hinges on availability of long-term capital at scale. Financing of infrastructure thus requires a diversified set of alternatives, especially so in economies at the cusp of transformation such as India. Meeting the required scale of infrastructure spending can only be made possible through a reimagined approach. In this context, Asset Monetisation merits a seat on the table. Asset recycling and monetisation serves two critical objectives, firstly it unlocks value from public investment in Infrastructure and secondly it taps private sector efficiencies in operations and management of infrastructure. Asset Monetization at its core, is a distinct shift from ‘privatization’ and ‘slump sale’ of assets to ‘structured partnerships’ with private sector within defined contractual frameworks. The driver for Asset Monetisation is beyond its fiscal impact. It is not just a funding mechanism, but an
overall paradigm shift in infrastructure operations, augmentation and maintenance. India has made massive strides in creating a mesh of infrastructure through flagship build-out programmes in recent years. For most sectors, this has been driven by the public sector or public funding. Today, India holds one of the largest brownfield stock of fixed assets in the world. However, while public sector can build infrastructure, it is rarely able to run it efficiently. It is a widely accepted fact the private sector has much greater resource efficiencies, when it comes to developing and managing infrastructure. Increasingly, therefore, government looks to partner with the private sector as a partner. However, for effective co-working between the public and private sector, PPP models are now demanding a reboot. India has a robust PPP ecosystem involving institutional mechanisms, model contractual frameworks, regime of standards and financing institutions. Concepts such as preservation of ownership with government, transfer back of asset at the end of concession and Key Performance Indicators are well engrained in our PPP eco-system. However, over the last few years there has been reduced appetite of private sector and debt financiers for greenfield infrastructure. This necessitates innovative mechanisms, structured around mature brownfield assets, for tapping private investment. Asset Monetisation, therefore strives to tilt the axis from greenfield to brownfield models. Increased appetite for brownfield assets is evidenced by the flow of private and institutional capital into
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Column: NITI Aayog Availability of a sustained and robust asset pipeline has been cited as a key concern by investors at various forums. A well laid out pipeline gives a comprehensive view to investors & developers of brown-field investment avenues in Infrastructure and helps them plan their fund raising and due-diligence sectors such as roads, power and telecom. Private sector activities. An initiative such as National Monetisation has very effectively utilized risk managed structures Pipeline (NMP) is pathbreaking at many levels. Creating a to monetize assets such as toll roads, transmission sectorally diverse pipeline beyond the traditional sectors towers, pipelines and telecom towers thus bringing in a of roads and power necessitated a ‘whole of Government’ new investor class into India’s Infrastructure. From the exercise with a comprehensive scanning of brownfield public sector, NHAI has monetized close to 1,400 km asset inventory. of toll roads through TOT concessions and has raised Rs. ~17,000 crore. Powergid successfully launched the A diverse and sustained National Monetisation first ever public sector InvIT monetizing its first batch of transmission assets and raising Rs. ~7,700 crore. Airports Pipeline (NMP) not only provides visibility to the investors on potential financing opportunities but Authority of India successfully monetized 6 brownfield also driving preparedness of public authorities to AAI airports through OMDA model raising upfront proceedand private investment towards augmentation of structure and launch transactions in a systematic and the airports. Indian Railways also launched the strategic transparent manner. foray into PPP in station redevelopment and running of Lastly, States are an equal partner in India’s passenger trains. Infrastructure story. India cannot grow faster unless states grow at higher rates and hence there is a need to Innovative structured vehicles such as Infrastructure work closely with states. States too present a significant Investment Trusts (InvITs) & Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a capital market play. They are created potential for leveraging assets such as tolled State Highways, Transmission towers, discoms, bus terminals, and operated under the regulatory framework of SEBI sports stadiums and state warehouses to mobilize and targets pooled long term capital. Since the launch capital for Infrastructure investment which can have of regulations for these vehicles by SEBI in year 2014, multiplier effects on the state economies. Recognizing India’s private sector has very effectively unlocked the criticality of enhanced capital expenditure, the its invested equity by employing these vehicles and “Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital bringing in capital from global pension and sovereign Expenditure” to boost capital expenditure by state funds. AUM of Rs. ~1 lakh crore from the private sector governments reeling under the financial impact of alone, is held by these vehicles. Through the Asset Monetisation programme, public sector entities will COVID-19 pandemic, is a pathbreaking measure. also tap into long term institutional capital and build Under the Scheme, incentive is provided to the States in the form of 50-year interest free loan. During the on the recent success of PowerGrid’s InvIT. More current year, Rs. 5,000 crore of incentive payments has importantly, India’s common public can also invest been budgeted for states undertaking monetisation and in InvITs and REITs as retail investors. These models disinvestment. interest a different investor class comprising of global pension and sovereign wealth funds and also retail In order to give the needed fillip to the monetization investors. The SEBI Regulations bring transparency for initiative, following three aspects need concerted investors and also efficiency in asset management. efforts and interventions. Firstly, a relentless focus India’s tryst with Monetisation is not a new thing but an on implementation is the key. Secondly developing brownfield models and frameworks will provide the ongoing exercise. There is now a need to systematically needed pace. Lastly, driving states and partnering adopt these initiatives across varied asset classes and with them in undertaking monetisation in a structured streamline the frameworks and modalities of such manner. alternatives in a programmatic manner which can be readily absorbed, evaluated and replicated.
amitabhk87
Amitabh Kant CEO, NITI Aayog
Mr. Amitabh Kant is presently CEO of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI). He is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, IAS (Kerala Cadre: 1980 batch).
NUMBERSPEAK
Has the pandemic changed trade balance in favour of India? New Zealand’s trade surplus with India shrank from $ 579 million to $ 78 million during the year ended June 2020-2021. Dr Rahul Sen, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics at Auckland University of Technology shares the reason behind this tilt in trade. New Zealand’s trade relationship with India, the sixth largest economy globally at current exchange rates, and third largest in PPP (purchasing power Parity) terms as of 2020, has declined with the onset of the global recession induced by the pandemic. The economies in both countries have been adversely affected by the pandemic induced twin demand-supply shocks global pandemic since March 2020. Compared to a year ago, as at yearend June 2021, India’s two-way trade with New Zealand valued at $ 2.2 billion was $0.4 billion lower based on total trade in goods and services. The share of India in New Zealand’s total trade in the same period was 1.5%, same as at the yearat year ended June 2015. Figure 1 showing the trend of bilateral trade flows since 2015 suggests that the declining trend in bilateral trade between New Zealand and India over 2020-2021 due to the onset of the global pandemic, was largely led by that of service exports (which declined by $ 331 million), followed by goods exports (a decline of $ 104 million), with services imports also falling by $ 56 million year on year. Bilateral goods imports however, increased by about $ 121 million during the same period. Clearly, prolonged border closures had a severe impact on travel services over this period, a key historical driver of bilateral trade between the two countries. As a result of the above-mentioned trends, New Zealand’s trade surplus with India shrank from $ 579 million to $ 78 million during the yearduring year ended June 2020-2021. This is indicative of the fact that the pandemic has tilted the bilateral trade balance in India’s favour, implying New Zealand bought more from India than vice-versa, an exception to the past trend.
Figure 1 New Zealand's Bilateral Trade with India (Year ended June, in NZ$ million) 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0
2015
2016
Goods Exports
2017 Services exports
2018
2019 Goods Imports
2020
2021
Services Imports
Source : Compiled from Statistics New Zealand Trade Dashboard
Below is provides a summary of New Zealand’s trade relationship with India as at year-ended June 2021. A few key trends emerge from the data. 1. New Zealand’s goods exports to India have been on a declining trend much earlier than the pandemic, declining by about $ 227 million since 2017. The top 10 goods exported from New Zealand to India as of Year-end June 2021 constituted 88% of New Zealand’s total exports to India. The top commodity item of goods exports was Wood consisting of Logs and Forestry products ($ 70 million, down by $ 90 million compared to a year ago), Edible Fruit and Nuts ($ 68 million, up by $ 18 million compared to 2020), followed by Wood Pulp ($ 61 million), and Optical, medical and measuring equipment respectively, ($ 48 million, up by $ 28 million from a year ago), mainly due to the spike in demand
following the onset of the pandemic. The sharp decline in Wood and Confidential items exports in 20202021 were the major contributor behind the overall observed decline in bilateral goods exports during the year. Edible Fruits and Nuts has been the second largest valued of exports to India as of year ended June 2021, compared to fourth rank in 2017, driven by an increase in New Zealand exports of Apples to India, whose share in New Zealand’s total Apple exports increased to 4% from 6% compared to a year ago, in spite of the global pandemic. 2. New Zealand’s goods imports from India have not been highly concentrated in a few product categories compared to its exports in the past, and a similar trend continues to persist. The value of imports in terms of c.i.f. (costs, insurance, freight) increased by $ 121 million as at year end June 2021,
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compared to a year ago. The top10 goods imported by New Zealand from India during this period constituted about 56% of New Zealand’s total imports from India. The top commodity item of imports was Pharmaceuticals/Medications ($ 92 million), followed by Precious Metals and Gems ($ 70 million), Textiles ($ 56 million), and Machinery Equipment and Parts ($ 55 million) (Table 1). In terms of change in value of imports from India, the largest increases were noted in Sugar (up by $ 31 million from a year ago); followed by Motor Vehicles and Parts (up by $ 15 million), Precious Metals and Gems (up by $ 14 million) and Pharmaceuticals (up by $ 13 million) respectively. Notably, all top 10 imported product categories showed a year-on-year increase, reflective of increased import demand from New Zealand for these manufactured goods, in spite of disruptions due to the ongoing pandemic.
3. With continued and prolonged border closures over 2020-2021, exports of Commercial Services decreased from $ 1000 million to $ 669 million year on year as of June 2021. Imports of Commercial Services also followed a similar trend, declining by $ 56 million from $ 290 million to $ 234 million during the same period. Travel service exports declined bydecline of $ 304 million, and that of imports by $ 73 million year on year clearly contributed to the overall $ 387 million decline in bilateral services trade between the two countries. GovernmentGovernments service bilateral exports also declined year on year by $ 15 million. The only silver lining was the increase of Telecommunication and IT services imports from India to New Zealand by $ 27 million year on year during this period, reflective of increasedincrease demand due to the lockdowns forcing many business activities to be conducted online.
Overall, the data for this year so far suggests that bilateral trade between New Zealand and India has been severely affected by the pandemic, with volume of two-way trade reaching levels lower than that achieved in year-end June 2015, driven by a significant decline in two-way services trade as well as goods exports. However, in spite of the pandemic, bilateral goods imports have bucked the trend and significantly tilted the trade balance in India’s favour, suggestive that by the end of 2021, if status quo persists with international travel, India may enjoy a trade surplus with New Zealand, which will yield negative ramifications for tourism and education services exports overall for the New Zealand economy.
AUTuni
Dr. Rahul Sen Senior Lecturer, School of Economics
Rahul was previously a Research Fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore from 20032007, prior to joining AUT in 2008. The overarching theme of his research has been in the field of international economics focusing on trade policy and economic integration in the AsiaPacific region.
Column: Pharmexcil
From import-dependency to self-reliance and now one of the main exporter in the global market Indian Pharma’s journey to the top It has been a long journey for the Indian pharmaceutical industry from being merely import-dependent to emerge as a self-reliant producer and now as one of the main export competitors in the global market. What caused this shift in leadership? How did India grow to become the “Pharmacy of the world”? Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) explains. It has been a long journey for the Indian pharmaceutical industry from being merely an import dependent to emerge as a self-reliant producer and now as one of the main export competitors in the global market. The Indian Pharmaceutical industry through robust quality management system and being sensitive to provide medicines at an affordable price has acquired reputation as the provider of standard, safe and efficacious medicines across the globe and evolved as “Pharmacy of the World” with supplies over 202 countries. India has the distinction of saving hundreds of millions of populations from the dreaded diseases like HIV, Malaria & Tuberculosis and known for its quality & affordable medicines. India is 3rd largest formulation exporter by volume and 10th largest by value in the world, besides being the largest exclusive generic exporter by value. The Indian pharma industry (exports & domestic) is of USD 49 billion with the net annual trade surplus is approx. USD 17.4bn. Pharma exports during FY 202021 recorded a growth of over 18% amounting $24.47 billion comprising of Finished dosage formulations, Biologicals, APIs, Ayush & Herbals and Surgicals etc despite economic slowdown globally. Indeed, Drug formulations & Biologicals is the second largest Principal commodity being exported by India and Pharma is one of the top five
sectors reducing trade deficit. The policy initiatives by the Government of India and entrepreneurship spirit of Indian industry have made it possible to achieve this. India is a major importing partner of Generic formulations of many highly regulated markets like, USA, UK, South Africa, Brazil and some others. Almost 65-70% of its generic exports are to highly regulated markets.
India’s industry has been continuously awarded with more than 30% of USFDA’s market authorizations during the last five years and in the calendar year 2020 India companies have bagged 37% of market authorizations granted by USFDA.
India is also the major supply of APIs and 90% of WHO Prequalified API’s are sourced from India.
India’s role in global fight against Pandemic:
Vaccines is another segment in which India’s contribution is outstanding. WHO sources over 65% of its essential immunization vaccine requirements from India. India’s Serum institute, a major Vaccine manufacturer globally says “65% of children in the world receive at least one vaccine of their manufacture.” India has other enterprisers in this segment with significant contributions to the global vaccine requirement. Credentials of Indian Companies: Eight of India based companies feature among top 20 Generic companies of the world. India has the maximum no. of US FDA-approved manufacturing sites outside the USA and over 17.5% of the units USFDA inspects outside of USA are in India. USA is the leading exporting partner to Indian pharma with a share of 32%.
Almost 33% of CEPS granted by EDQM are to Indian companies.
India stands out as an essential component to a concrete global action plan being readied to fight COVID-19, including for largescale vaccine manufacturing. Indian industry, one among the biggest manufacturers of generic medicines and vaccines has quickly scaled up the capacities of potential repurposed medicines for COVID-19 treatment. India’s Pharma industry responded resiliently to the global needs of some of the medicines employed in the treatment of Covid-19 pandemic. India’s Industry could respond to various country’s urgent appeals for supplies of products like Azithromycin, Doxycycline, Paracetamol, Hydroxychloroquine and many others. Indeed, India supplied Hydroxychloroquine tablets to 150 nations as well as Paracetamol to 23 countries in the early days of Covid
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pandemic and reinforced its image as “Pharmacy of the World”. Indian companies are at the forefront in bulk manufacture and supply of potential repurposed medicines for Covid such as Remdesivir, Favipiravir, Tocilizumab etc to the global population. Six Indian companies have signed a royalty free Voluntary license with Gilead for manufacturing & export of Remdesivir to 127 countries. The countries consist of nearly all low-income and lowermiddle income countries, as well as several upper-middle- and high-income countries that face significant obstacles to healthcare access. The 6 Indian companies are namely, Cipla Limited, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, Hetero Laboratories Limited, Jubilant Lifesciences, Syngene, a Biocon company and, Zydus Cadila Healthcare Limited. Indian companies are leading in development & manufacture of COVID vaccines: India, being the “Powerhouse of vaccine manufacturing” playing a lead role in overcoming the ongoing pandemic. Several Indian pharmaceutical firms are working on a coronavirus vaccine as part of global efforts to find a preventive to stem the spread of the deadly virus. It is with great pride, Pharmexcil notes that M/s.Bharat Biotech performed on par with many western innovative vaccine companies by introducing its own version of covid vaccine (Covaxin) which is developed totally in house with support of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) & National Institute of Virology (NIV). Another company M/s.Serum Institute of India could manufacture OxfordAstraZenecas Covid vaccine ‘Covidshield’. These products could meet all the requirements of a safe vaccine and were made market ready in almost less than a year, which normally takes more than three full years. This
speaks volumes of our biologists’ & manufacturers’ capabilities to meet even exigencies with high accuracy and speed. India’s Vaccine manufacturers besides commercial exports of estimated $140 million could also meet our government’s commitment of millions of free doses supplied abroad. More than 60 million doses of COVID vaccines have been exported (grant and commercial) to 90 + nations and the cycle continues while a massive immunization program is operational to vaccinate the entire Indian population. Some key facts on the vaccine front are: A. Serum Institute of India: • Have Manufacturing agreement for AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine (COVISHIELD) • A total of 17 out of 27 member countries in the European Union have approved “COVISHIELD” • Partnership with Gavi, the vaccine Alliance and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for 100 million doses • Licensing deal for Novavax vaccine B. Bharath Biotech: • Developed indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate “Covaxin” in collaboration with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV) within a span of one year • Developing Intranasal vaccine for Covid in association with Washington University in St Louis, USA. C. Zydus Cadila: Developed world first DNA based Covid vaccine (ZyCov-D) D. Collaboration for Sputnik-V: • Dr.Reddys Laboratories has partnership with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for Regulatory approvals and distribution of Sputnik-V vaccine.
• Several other manufacturers viz. Panacea Biotech, Hetero, Gland Pharma, Stelis Biopharama, Virchow Biotech, Serum Institute etc have manufacturing agreements for Sputnik-V. E. Biological E Ltd: Manufacturing agreement for Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) arm Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine Developing Corbevax, protein subunit vaccine in association with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, USA and American company Dynavax Technologies (DVAX) F. Several other Indian Companies like Aurobindo Pharma, Panacea Biotech, India Immunological, Gennova Bio & Mynavax etc are also developing vaccines in collaboration with different International Agencies and are in different stages. INDIA - NEW ZEALAND: India majorly participates in the generic market of New Zealand which is valued at USD. 298million which is growing at a slower pace than desired. India is the 4th largest formulation importing partner to New Zealand next to Australia, USA & Germany and India’s share of New Zealand’s generic market is over 5%. India’s pharma exports during FY 2020-2021 (April-Mar) were to the tune of USD 53 million with 26.3% growth and exports are valued at USD 18.42 million during April-July of 2021-22 with 21% growth. As the pharma market is import driven (approximately 99%) and the Government authorities & PHARMAC are focusing on cost-containment measures of medicines to reduce the healthcare expenditure, affordable Indian made generics are best alternatives for costly patented medicines and would benefit the nation at large.
Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), set up by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and is the nodal agency to represent India’s pharmaceutical & allied products in the global arena.
INZBC Events Report
You got to LOVE India to do business with it: Insights from INZBC Christchurch webinar Last month, the Christchurch chapter of India New Zealand Business Council hosted a conference in partnership with UC Business School and the Asia New Zealand Foundation | Te Whītau Tūhono as a part of the Hihiko Webinar Series. The webinar focused on seeking pragmatic ways to engage with India without discussing FTA or RCEP. Speakers at the webinar included, New Zealand High Commissioner to India, David Pine, INZBC Chair, Sameer Handa MNZM, Suzannah Jessep, Director of Research and Engagement at Asia New Zealand Foundation, and Trade & Policy expert, Esther Guy-Meakin, hosted by Sandeep Sharma, Chapter Head, INZBC Christchurch.
The webinar started with a brief address by Suzannah Jessep, Director of Research and Engagement at Asia New Zealand Foundation who informed that from her research, they know that India is not a particularly well-understood country in NZ, compared to North and South-East Asia. As a result of this, South Asia tends to be rated less important to NZ’s future compared to the other regions.
or Dubai to go into India. Thus, opening an untapped Indian market for NZ companies and investors.
His Excellency, David Pine shared his views from New Delhi on the current state of play. He said that New Zealand does not have deep pockets to make huge investments into India alone but it does have technical expertise and sector know-how which can benefit India and attract investments from third parties like investors in SGP
Sameer Handa, Chair, India New Zealand Business Council and Esther Guy-Meakin, Senior Manager: Strategy, Trade Policy and Advocacy, Meat Industry Association of New Zealand both agreed on the lack of conversation on Kiwi companies success stories in India.
His message for Kiwi businesses looking to explore the Indian market was - ask yourself; Do I like this place? Do I want to be here? Do I want to come back? Fundamentally “You got to LOVE India” to do business with it.
INZBC brings together two big giants Pharmac NZ and Pharmexcil India INZBC facilitated a brilliant conversation between the New Zealand and Indian pharmaceutical bodies to explore opportunities of investment and imports within the industries.
High Commissioner from India to New Zealand, Muktesh Pardeshi revealed statistics that highlighted
Speakers at the discussion included, Sameer Handa MNZM, Chair, India New Zealand Business Council, High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, Muktesh Pardeshi, Uday Bhaskar, Director General of Pharmexcil and Sarah Fitt, CEO of Pharmac New Zealand. Sameer Handa in his opening speech set the context for the discussion and welcomed a frank and open discussion on rethinking the future and prioritising health, wellbeing, culture and relationships of the citizens.
India’s strong position in the pharmaceutical industry in the world, with a view to exploring the opportunity presented by New Zealand to Indian exporters.
Uday Bhaskar, Director General of Pharmexcil in his speech sent out a strong message to the audience when he presented numbers that showcased India’s capability to not only produce generic medicines at an affordable price but also produce mass vaccines. Sarah Fitt, CEO of Pharmac New Zealand gave a brief presentation on New Zealand’s healthcare system and Pharmac’s position on the system. She presented the difference in the healthcare system and spend between India and New Zealand and mentioned that 60% of medicines funded in NZ have some sort of involvement from an Indian manufacturer.
inzbc 30 | KiaOra India | October 2021 INZBC.ORG india new zealand business council
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