To facilitate the ease of doing trade, tourism and business between the two countries, India and New Zealand are discussing the initiation of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the commerce ministry stated on Tuesday. There are also talks of allowing the import of wooden logs from New Zealand.
The statement said, “Ministers (Indian and New Zealand trade ministers) welcomed early discussions between National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Payments NZ regarding the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system and agreed that both sides should continue deliberations on this issue.” NPCI is the umbrella organization that offers UPI services.
Bhutan, Nepal and the UAE already have a UPI payment system in place, with NPCI international negotiating in the US, West Asia and several European countries to expand their services.
Last year, the NPCI signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lyra, France’s online payment system. Earlier in 2023, Singapore’s Pay Now and UPI agreed to allow their users to make cross-border transactions between the two nations.
While mangoes are already being exported from India to New Zealand, there are further discussions of technical collaboration in the field of pharmaceuticals; processing, transportation and storage; horticulture and agriculture, including Kiwi, the most important fruit export crop of New Zealand.
Also Read More –
- UPI transaction value up 4% in July; inches closer to 10 billion in volume
- Goa, Uttarakhand sign MoU to boost tourism
- Mokarsagar wetland to be developed as eco-tourism site
