A delegation from Australian today held discussions with the Tamil Nadu government on potential areas of mutual cooperation such as fishing and dairy sectors.
Chief Minister O Panneerselvam told the delegation led by Australia's High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling that the two have had 'strong economic and sporting relations for many years'.
There is considerable potential for co-operation with Australia in the area of agriculture and allied activities, an official release quoted him as saying.
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"Fisheries, in particular deep sea fishing, was identified as an area of interest to Tamil Nadu which has to promote more deep sea fishing by the one million strong marine fishermen community as that would lead to more sustainable livelihoods for them and better utilisation of India's Exclusive Economic Zone," it said.
Dairy is another sector which Tamil Nadu is strongly encouraging through several initiatives, including the free milch animals scheme launched by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and the government sought Australia's technical assistance to further promote this sector.
The two sides also discussed about exploring possible areas of collaboration in infrastructure development as Australia is 'one of the leaders' in adopting Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in infrastructure development.
The models and processes adopted there would be a useful learning for officials from Tamil Nadu, it said.
"The Australian side submitted notes for further cooperation in the area of road safety, sustainable fisheries management and in the dairy sector," it said, adding that others like skill development and solar energy, capacity building for PPP would be followed up through structured interactions by the two sides.
Panneerselvam also invited Australian investors and businesses for the state government's proposed Global Investors Meet scheduled to be held here in May 2015.
The Australian delegation included Sean Kelley, Deputy High Commissioner of Australia in Chennai, while the state government was represented by Chief Secretary Mohan Verghese Chunkath, among others.
