NEW DELHI, December 2, 2013. Mr. Barry O’ Farrell MP, Premier of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, said today that both Australia and India need to increase their level of business engagement for enhancing economic and social growth.

While addressing an interactive meeting organized by FICCI and New South Wales Government, Australia, he said that NSW is the leading ICT centre in the Asia Pacific region and it would encourage more focused use of technology to leverage other sectors.

Mr. O’ Farrell said that New South Wales contributes about one-third to Australia’s GDP and offers a multi-skilled workforce. Besides, it has excellent connectivity with more than 1000 flights operating per week. There are now direct flights between India and Sydney, which would help in further strengthening trade relations between the two nations.

He said there is a need to indentify the opportunities that the two countries could explore and pursue with a practical approach.

Mr. Naveen Jindal, Chairman, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. and Member of Parliament, said, India’s total trade with Australia for the 2012-13 was US$ 15.43 billion. Three products namely, coal, non-monetary gold and copper ores account for more than three-fourths of India’s imports from Australia.”

 “There is a huge potential to increase bilateral trade between India and New South Wales from 1.8 billion Australian dollars (AUD) that we achieved last year. Australian companies with their state-of-the-art clean coal and mining technologies can play a huge role in the development of the Indian states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa which are mineral rich.”

“Australia’s ICT skills and India’s impressive software development and implementation skills complement each other well as global partners. Major Indian ICT companies are already active in Australia and this opportunity needs to be nurtured further. There is also tremendous potential for tourism growth in both countries. This year, nearly 150,000 Indian visitors are expected to visit Australia and by 2020, this figure may go up to 400,000,” Mr. Jindal said. 

He said that there is also significant untapped potential for cooperation especially in the in non-traditional sectors such as - - biotechnology, nanotechnology, urban infrastructure, green building, clean energy environment, health, drugs & pharmaceuticals, water management, insurance, auto components and textiles.

Mr. Patrick Suckling, Australian High Commissioner to India, said that the Premier is committed to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. The Premier’s mission is to connect New South Wales to the world and adapt progressive policies and systems to further trade relations with India and other nations.

Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, said that strategic partnership between India and Australia have grown both in strength and importance. The rapid growth of relations between the two countries is reflected in the trade and investment figures. But still there is enormous scope of increasing the level of bilateral trade.