India and New Zealand are discussing introducing Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the island nation, which would promote ease of doing business, trade and tourism between both countries, the commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“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,” the statement said.
“They agreed that introduction of UPI in New Zealand would promote ease of doing business between both the countries and promote trade and tourism as well,” it added.
At present, countries like the UAE, Bhutan and Nepal have already adopted the UPI payment system.
In 2022, the NPCI, the umbrella organisation offering UPI services, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with France’s online payment system, Lyra. In 2023, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions.
As things stand, NPCI International is in talks to extend UPI services in the US, European countries and West Asia.
Meanwhile, both Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his New Zealand counterpart Damien O’ Connor have acknowledged the importance of cooperation between the two countries as members of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity across the supply chain, clean economy and fair economy pillars, the commerce ministry said.
On the trade facilitation side, (both) ministers acknowledged the joint effort to find a feasible alternative to allow import of wooden logs from New Zealand.
Courtesy: Livemint
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