The maiden visit of an Australian trade delegation to India led by Andrew Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment, commenced here on Monday with the reiteration of the country’s commitment to successfully conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with India by end-2015.
“Our highest priority is the conclusion of a bilateral trade deal with India. Our Prime Ministers have committed to concluding the FTA deal by the end of 2015,” said Robb, adding that Australia had already inked similar pacts with China, South Korea and Japan earlier.
The decision to establish a bilateral trade pact between India and Australia were first mooted in 2011 and negotiations have been successfully undertaken on the issues of non-tariff barriers and facilitation of investments.
Bilateral trade currently stands at $15 billion in 2013-14, about a tenth of Australia-China trade which amounts to $160 billion. “At the moment there are only 450 Australian companies in India, as compared to 11,000 Australian companies in the US. We want to see many thousand Australian companies in India in the years to come,” said Robb.
He added that significant cooperation can be achieved in energy with Australia supplying uranium and low-emission LNG while also sharing technology and expertise for India to successfully exploit its mineral resources.
Focus on dairy, agriculture
Among the 450 delegates representing 14 sectors, a team of 25 will look to explore opportunities in the dairy industry, particularly with regard to training, research and development of the sector in India.
“We represent only 7 per cent of the global dairy trade and the sector is rather disaggregated. So, with dairy moving from being a cottage industry to full-fledged sector, Australia can help provide technology to modernise Indian dairy. That’s our niche,” said Mark Morley, Senior Trade Commissioner, Australian Trade Commission.
Currently, agri-related bilateral trade stands at $488.5 million as of 2013-14, far less than China or even Saudi Arabia. “The export opportunity is massive, there’s a gap to fill here with India’s middle class growing and more innovation in dairy and food processing sectors,” added Morley.
India primarily imports pulses, wool and almonds from Australia with horticulture producers expecting trade, particularly in citrus, with India to expand if the FTA comes through. With Vietnam banning imports of Australian fresh fruits and vegetables due to poor fruit fly management from January 1, India would provide a sizeable alternative market.
“There are many experiences that can be applied here but as trading partners, we need to resolve our restrictions immediately,” said Senator Richard Colbeck, Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture.