Australia To Seize Trade Opportunities Arising Out Of India’s Economic Rise

New Delhi: Australia on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious roadmap to deepen its trade and investment ties with India, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describing it as an attempt to find paths towards a better future for both sides. The roadmap identified four “superhighways of growth” -- clean energy, education and skills, agribusiness, and tourism -- with a broader aim of seizing the enormous trade and investment opportunities arising out of India’s economic rise.

There is no greater time to engage economically with India than now, Albanese said while launching the ‘Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India’ at an event at Deakin University in Melbourne. Describing India as a “giant” on the world stage, he said the country continues to grow in stature. India is on track to be the third largest economy by the end of this decade and it is growing in ways that are complementary to Australia’s own economy, he said. Albanese called the roadmap a “guide to seizing the enormous trade and investment opportunities of India’s economic rise, one that is shaped and informed by the knowledge and experience gathered from 400 consultations in every state and territory, as well as in India.” “What the roadmap does is give us detailed directions to the greater realisation of the potential of the Australia-India relationship.

Successfully tapping that potential will be good for Australian business and Australian consumers,” he said. “It will help secure our supply chains in an uncertain world. And it will create jobs and growth,” he noted. The roadmap comes over two years after India and Australia firmed up the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). Both sides are now working towards a mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). The roadmap also identifies nearly 50 specific opportunities to focus and accelerate Australia’s engagement with India in several areas such as defence industries, sports, culture, space, and technology. Kickstarting the implementation of the roadmap, Canberra announced investing USD 16 million in an Australia-India Trade and Investment Accelerator Fund, which will help Australian businesses unlock new commercial opportunities in India. In his remarks, Albanese, delving into various aspects of the new economic roadmap said both the nations have the chance to “brighten

each other’s future.”