Hon. Jason Clare, Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment from North Australia at an interactive meeting on ‘Strengthening Australia-India Relations’ at WTC Mumbai , stated, “India is an economic superpower in the making. The entire world knows it and Australia knows it too well. India and Australia have shared values of democracy and cultural diversity. The Indian population in Australia has tripled in the last decade and today Australia has the largest proportion of Indians in total population among all countries. India is the fifth largest trade partner of Australia. Today, the countries are engaged in the negotiation of two trade agreements, one is the 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the other is the bilateral free trade agreement. There is optimism that the RCEP agreement will be finalized in the next 12 months. After the conclusion of the RCEP pact, India and Australia will finalize their bilateral trade agreement.”

He further added, “According to some studies, the middle class population in Asia will be 3 billion by 2030. The business communities in Australia and India must partner together to target this market. The purpose of my trip to India is to discuss with the business community and policymakers in the country on possible areas of collaboration.”

The event was jointly organized by MVIRDC World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and was attended by representatives from trade and industry, consular corps, academic institutions, think tanks and non government organizations. The event generated fruitful interaction between the audience and the shadow minister on a wide range of issues such as mutual cooperation in education, tourism, trade, investment, among others.

Sharing insights on the scope for cooperation in education, vocational training and tourism, Hon. Clare said, “Today, India has 850 million people below the age of 35 and Australia seeks to engage with this segment of the population productively. Government of Australia supports its students to study and undertake internship projects in India. Similarly, Indian students can also explore education opportunities in Australia, which has top grade universities and high quality vocational education system. The number of students choosing Australia as education destination has grown in double digit in the last one year. Similarly, in the tourism sector, the number of Indian tourists visiting Australia has grown 16 percent in the last 12 months.”

With regard to this Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Centre Mumbai said, “Archeologists have found traces of Indian DNA dating back 5,000 years in Australia. Today, the bilateral trade is in favour of Australia, with India’s exports at USD 4,012 million and imports at USD 13,994 million during 2017-18. Australia is the third largest education destination for Indian students. There is tremendous opportunity for collaboration in areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and defense.”