New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon praised India’s economic transformation under the leadership of PM Modi. He said that India has lifted 25 crore people out of poverty and this is an incredible transformation, which is very inspiring.
auckland [न्यूजीलैंड]July 11 (ANI): New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Saturday praised India’s economic transformation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said he had been a “big fan of India” for many years and described the country’s progress as “incredible”.
Addressing the India-New Zealand Business and Sports Engagement event in Auckland, Lakson recalled his first visit to India in the 1990s while working for Unilever and reflected on the country’s remarkable economic journey over the past three decades.
India’s incredible transformation under Modi’s leadership
He said, “Many of you may know that I have been a big fan of India for a long time. I first went to India in my mid-20s. It was because I worked for a company called Unilever, which owned Hindustan Lever, which was one of the top 10 companies in India. I remember going to India in the mid-to-late 90s and people would get daily wages in coins in their hands. It’s interesting to me That under the leadership of PM Modi, they have brought 25 crore people out of poverty, which is going to be 75 crore by the end of this decade.
He added, “As someone who has been to India many times, seeing the move from low-income to middle-income to high-income – this transformation is very inspiring and exciting.”
A strong economic partnership between India and New Zealand will create new opportunities for businesses, innovators and our youth. It was a pleasure to interact with industry leaders in Auckland. @chrisluxonmp https://t.co/Zlkc3VYcDa — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 11, 2026
Warm welcome to PM Modi
Luxon warmly welcomed Prime Minister Modi and thanked him for visiting New Zealand with a delegation of Indian business leaders. “Let me begin by welcoming my very good friend Prime Minister Modi very warmly. My friend, thank you for coming to New Zealand and for bringing outstanding business leaders from India to spend time with our business leaders to talk about how we can make the most of this opportunity,” he said.
Recalling his first meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Laos, Lakson said the Indian Prime Minister had shared with him the scale of India’s infrastructure expansion and development initiatives, which he found inspiring.
He said, “When we first sat together in Laos, you kindly told me that you had built 147 airports in a very short period of time. You needed 2,000 more planes just to manage your domestic tourism and you were opening universities and polytechnics on a regular basis. And as someone who has been to India many times and seen the country move from low-income to middle-income to high-income, it was very inspiring and exciting to see this transformation.” Is.”
Potential areas of cooperation
Highlighting potential areas of cooperation, Lakson said India and New Zealand have significant opportunities to expand cooperation in agriculture, food, tourism, education and technology.
He said, “And of course, as the Indian community of 1.4 billion in India gets richer, we have food and produce that we can sell to them. We have tourism experiences. We also have fantastic educational institutions here and there is a lot we can do in technology. As I reminded the Prime Minister this morning, I said you know us as an agrarian nation, but now we are the third largest rocket launching nation in the world and so we think there is a lot of room for us to collaborate.” Are areas.”
Importance of Free Trade Agreement
Luxon further appreciated the free trade agreement that could create favorable conditions for growth. Luxon also underlined the importance of the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, saying it will help create the necessary conditions for strong economic growth, while emphasizing that businesses will play a central role in converting those opportunities into concrete outcomes.
He said, “I would say that the Prime Minister and I, at a top-to-top level in a government sense, have done a free trade agreement and we can create favorable conditions for growth, but it is all of you in this room as business leaders who ultimately create that growth. And that growth becomes the money by which we raise the standards of living of people in both New Zealand and India.”
It is necessary for all three sectors to come together for development
Talking about the role of governments, businesses and communities in driving national development, Luxon cited Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl and said all three sectors need to work together for meaningful progress.
He said, “I’m a huge admirer of a guy called Viktor Frankl and he very famously wrote this book that I read when I was young, about three big actors in our society. The government sets up the operating system for our country, the business leaders move with great speed, scale and execution and our community leaders who really see the pain, the hurt, the need, the despair in our communities and it’s these three actors in our society that need to come together to realize the huge opportunities for India and New Zealand.” Is.”
Urge to deepen trade relations
Luxon encouraged business leaders from both countries to deepen commercial engagement and urged New Zealand businesses to better understand the Indian market and its consumers.
He said, “So I encourage you all. Thank you very much for participating as business-to-business leaders. The onus is on you in this relationship and we wish you all the best in opening up new markets and new opportunities that will come from working together. To the New Zealand businesses in the room and those watching, I want to say, get on a plane and go learn about the Indian consumer. They are some of the most savvy consumers in the world. Learn about the markets, Find the right partner, understand how to optimize your product and service in both India and New Zealand. Thank you very much for coming here today. Thank you very much for all the commitments you have made to this relationship.” (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)