India will set up a trade promotion office in Sydney to act as a single-front door for investors and businesses as the two countries look to double two-way trade to $100 billion by 2030.
The office, part of a wider push by the world’s fastest growing economy to deepen investment ties in South-East Asia, will focus on four key areas, including technology.
It is expected to “act as a bridge between investors and businesses” in both countries, Indian Commerce and Industry minister Shri Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
Mr Goyal, who is in Australia for trade talks for the first time since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reelected, said India is looking at “significantly upscaling” its partnerships in trade, investment, tourism and technology.
A similar office — and the government’s first outside of India — was opened by the minister in Singapore earlier in the week. At the inauguration, Mr Goyal said the office would be the first of many.
“We plan to open more overseas Invest India offices in the coming months with an aim to provide global investors seamless access to India’s dynamic and growing economy,” he said.
The new Sydney office will be staffed by officials from Invest India, the country’s investment agency, the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme and the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation.
Invest India signed a memorandum of understanding with Austrade for “for mutual investment promotion, technology and trade facilitation, and other insights into economic trade” on Wednesday.
Australian Trade minister Don Farrell said the economic relationship between India and Australia has “never ever been better”, reflecting the strong social and political ties between the two countries.
Senator Farrell said trade with India has been a “really big win for Australia” in the month since the the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) was ratified in November 2022.
“Industrial equipment and manufacturing exports are up 66 per cent or $145 million, and our health exports to India have increased by nearly 40 per cent to $33 million,” he said in Adelaide on Wednesday .
“Australian consumers are of course benefitting by our trade deals with savings at the checkouts worth around $225 million, thanks to the lower tariffs on products that are coming in from India.”
But there are plans to accelerate two-way trade, which currently sits at $49 billion a year, to $100 billion by the end of the decade, with agriculture and emerging sectors like green energy and space high on the agenda.
“For Australia, we’ve made it clear that we have much to offer our friends in India, particularly in agriculture, as well as the emerging sectors we are building as part of our Future Made in Australia,” Senator Farrell said.
While the Australian government’s Future Made in Australia (FMiA) plan is still in its infancy, India this week celebrated 10 years of Made in India, a similar nation-building initiative to make the country a hub for manufacturing.
“It’s been a multi‑pronged approach to attract manufacturing in India, and I do see a lot of promise between the Making India Program and the FMiA,” Mr Goyal said, adding that FMiA presents opportunities to exchange technologies.
A roundtable jointly hosted by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), the Newland Global Group and the Consulate General of India in Sydney this week discussed the opportunities to boost collaboration on advanced manufacturing.
The roundtable — part of ongoing negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which will build on the ECTA — highlighted the opportunities that would flow from combining Australia’s innovation with India’s production capabilities.
“Australia’s future prosperity lies in our ability to scale our manufacturing capabilities and serve global customers. By working together, we can leverage our respective strengths to enhance productivity and competitiveness of both our nations,” AMGC managing director Dr Jens Goennemann said.
The Australian government on Wednesday also unlocked another $10 million in grants under the Maitri Grants program, which are administered by the Centre for Australia-India Relations.
The funding will be available for projects that that boost trade and innovation, cultural ties and community leadership, and for universities to “host some of the brightest Indian students in their research”, Senator Farrell said.
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