Union min Goyal to visit Australia this week to deepen economic ties

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will be leading a business delegation to Australia this week to deepen economic ties, increase bilateral trade and investment and forge greater unity among Quad members, an official said.

The Quad members are Japan, India, Australia and the United States.

During the three-day official visit, starting from April 6, the commerce minister will hold discussions with top Australian authorities and businesses.

"The visit aims at further deepening economic ties with Australia," the official said.

The minister would reach out to businesses of both sides so that they can take full advantage of the trade pact, signed on April 2. He will be visiting Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

India and Australia on April 2 signed an economic cooperation and trade agreement.

Goyal has said the agreement would help in taking bilateral trade from USD 27.5 billion at present to USD 45-50 billion in the next five years.

Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra's 9th largest partner. India's goods exports were worth USD 6.9 billion and imports aggregated to USD 15.1 billion in 2021.