AIBC welcomes appointment of new Trade Minister Dan Tehan and his commitment to pursue Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India

“It is a great step in the right direction to further strengthen the economic relations between our two countries as the momentum is in great progress “said Mr Jim Varghese AM – National Chair -Australia India Business Council Ltd (AIBC) welcoming reports that Honorable Minister Dan Tehan, who has been appointed recently as the Federal Minister for Trade and Investment, will be prioritizing Australia’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India.
 
“I congratulate Minister Dan Tehan for his new role as Federal Minister for Trade and Investment and look forward to fruitful outcomes in his efforts to achieve the FTA. It will be a win-win scenario for both the countries.” said Mr Jim Varghese AM, National Chair – AIBC.
 
“Australia’s effort to pursue FTA with India is also in line with the recently published Australia Economic Strategy (AES) by Ambassador Anil Wadhwa which recommended such FTA with Australia. AIBC, during engagement with the previous Trade Minister,  Simon Birmingham, strongly recommended such FTA to commence with specific sectors like agribusiness, manufacturing and Health.“ stated Mr Varghese.
 
During PM Narendra Modi’s virtual summit with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held in June 2020, the Indian Prime Minister said ““India – Australia relations have deepened. We have shared visions, shared interests and shared objectives.”  “It is time for our relationship to go broader and deeper” said Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister.
 
India and Australia signed nine agreements including the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) which will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating scaling up of overall defense cooperation. Besides the MLSA, the other agreements signed will provide for bilateral cooperation including areas of cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology, mining and minerals, military technology, vocational education and water resources management.
 
The bilateral economic engagement too has been on the rise in the last few years. This is evident from the fact that the two-way trade between Australia and India has grown from $9.3 Billion in 2007 to $30 Billion in 2019. With CSP in place, India is poised to be Australia’s next trading partner in the coming years.
 
AIBC has established several Industry chapters to focus on the identification, development and achieving outcomes in specific market segments in the bilateral trade between Australia and India such as Agribusiness Chapter, Education and Skills Development Chapter, Healthcare Chapter, Make in India Chapter, SME Chapter, Start-ups and Innovation Chapter, Women in Business Chapter, Energy Chapter, Resources Chapter and Sports Chapter.
 
AIBC has also partnered with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICCI), Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) and has close working relationships with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Invest India, Business Council of Australia (BCA), Exports Council of Australia (ECA,) Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), Australian Industry Group (AiG)  to deliver more than 25 focussed events and webinars during last year on topics of current interest such as Innovation in Agribusiness, Smart Manufacturing and Make in India, Shaping future of clinical trials, Cybersecurity and many others. Several opportunities have been identified through the successful delivery of AIBC events and webinars.
 
“AIBC will continue to engage with Honorable Minister Dan Tehan to facilitate specific Government to Business (G2B) initiatives, projects and programs. While a closer engagement by Australia with India will generate more opportunities moving forward, we will take a pragmatic approach in turning such opportunities to success stories” stated Mr Jim Varghese AM – National Chair – AIBC.