Australia stepping up trade ties with India

The Australian Trade Commission is stepping up initiatives to accelerate its commercial engagement with India and raise awareness of Australian business and industry capability among the Indian community.

One such initiatives is “Doing Business with Australia” seminar series, covering tier-2 cities, as a part of the ‘Utsav Australia’ (celebrate Australia) programme. Mysore was chosen for one such seminar-series recently. Partnered with the Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry, it showcased the potential business and trade opportunities with Australia for businesses in Mysore in sourcing Australian technology, products and services; investing in Australia and potential joint venture partnership and investments.

It highlighted Australian expertise in advanced manufacturing, healthcare and medical, building and construction, infrastructure, education, information and communication technology, retail and environment and the value-add of Australian companies to businesses in Mysore. Speaking at the seminar, Aminur Rahman, Australian Consul General for South India and Trade Commissioner, said India was amongst the most significant export markets for Australia.

“Mysore, hitherto known for its rich history and regal past, is emerging as a significant industrial destination. The development in Mysore presents itself as an important market and business destination for Australian companies, especially in infrastructure, building and construction sectors where Australia has a demonstrated capability to deliver world-class buildings and facilities. It can provide value-added competitive solutions and expertise both in traditional and emerging sectors for businesses in Mysore”, he said.

Chaitanya Patil of Australian Trade Commission, Bangalore, told Business Standard that Australia exported to India merchandise worth A$ 9.32 billion and services A$ 2.52 billion. The booming service exports comprised education and tourism. There were strong FDI flows from India to Australia of recent. While from India it was A$ 1 billion, it stood at A$ 4.5 billion from Australia.

Its exports to India covered a wide range of items - infrastructure and major projects, building and construction, healthcare, medical and well-being, information and communication technology, automotive, education and training, retail, consumer goods and franchising, food and beverages, and arts, film and entertainment.

The student flow from India was over 85,000 as on September 2008. Australia had emerged as the second most popular destination among Indian students seeking overseas education. Education exports to India in 2007-08 totaled over A$ 2 billion. New prospects continued to emerge in fields like ICT technology, education, tourism, health, film and insurance. There were over 250,000 Australians of Indian origin.

Australia was stepping up efforts to create awareness on Australia’s capabilities and show-case its expertise across a wide range of sectors to further strengthen Australian exports and investments in India as it had a diverse base supply in several sectors. Its innovations comprised heart pacemaker, ultrasound scanner, black box flight recorder, and underwater computer.

Its other key initiatives to promote ties between India and Australia were “Winning businesses with India” seminar series from March, trade events and sporting linkages, Patil added.