Ramaiah To Lead Delegation To Australia

Union commerce minister B B Ramaiah will lead a high-level delegation to Australia in September this year to attend the annual joint ministerial commission and joint business council meeting there.

Ramaiah will be accompanied by senior officials and captains of industry to the three-day meeting beginning on September 1, the deputy Australian high commissioner to India, Rakesh Ahuja, said here yesterday.

Talking to reporters after opening the fourth `Wool Meet here, the commerce minister said I am looking forward to sorting out bilateral issues between the two trade-partners during the high-level meeting there.

The Indian delegation will be meeting the Australian deputy prime minister and the minister for trade, Tim Fischer, among others.

 

The discussions are expected to focus on agriculture, mining and further

liberalisation of trade policies in both the countries, Ahuja said.

Upgradation of the Indian wool industry, including technical upgradation and human resource development, would be included in the agenda, Ramaiah said.

About 70 firms and institutions from the Indian woollen industry are participating in the current wool meet, being organised by the International Wool Secretariat (IWS), including 12 international players.

International Wool Secretariat has been providing a platform through the annual wool meet to the buyers and sellers to do business,International Wool Secretariatarea director for India and West Asia, S K Chaudhuri, said.

Saying that an integrated approach was needed to develop the Indian woollen industry, Chaudhuri said representation had been invited from the allied industries like detergent sector also at the wool meet.

The International Wool Secretariat continental director for Asia, Europe and South Africa, Peter M Siretz, said India was now regarded as a potential player in the international market, and called upon the industry to give priority to the issues of quality and timely delivery.

The International Wool Secretariat is committed to help the Indian manufacturers and exporters in improving their export business and reduction

in the import duty by the federal government is a step in the right direction, Siretz said.

Speaking on the occasion, Wool Club of India chairman Ashok Kapoor drew the attention of the minister to the delay in implementation of the pass book scheme for the wool exporters.

The chairman of the Indian Woolen Mills Federation, Ravikant Kapur, called for emphasis on the Indian woollen industry which had the potential to take on the international market.