Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal concluded his productive 3-day visit to Australia (23-26 September, 2024) today.
The Minister co-chaired the 19th Joint Ministerial Commission meeting with Senator The Hon. Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism of Australia at Government House in Adelaide on August 25, 2024. Discussions focussed on areas of cooperation and economic priorities for India and Australia; implementation of Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) initiatives; progress on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations etc.
The Ministers reiterated the target of achieving AUD 100 billion bilateral trade by 2030. They also discussed enhancement of cooperation at multilateral and other regional forums- G20, IPEF and WTO, including the Domestic Services Regulation issue.
At the Joint Press Conference after the meeting, the Minister announced the opening of an Investment, Trade, Technology and Tourism (ITTT) office in Sydney which will have representatives of Invest India, NICDC, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation and DGFT, including industry bodies like CII and FICCI. Minister Farrell announced a new grant of AUD 10 million for Australian businesses, organisations and universities to boost cooperation with India. Under the new grant, AUD 5 million will be extended to Australian organisations working on projects that boost trade and innovation, cultural ties and community leaders, and a further AUD 5 million for scholars and fellowships to support Australian universities to host Indian students in their research, on shared challenges.
