Working to boost two-way trade with India: Australia

From Natasha Chaku
Melbourne, May 24 (PTI) India and Australia have
expressed a keen interest to work together to boost two-way
trade following talks in Canberra during the visit of Indian
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Australian Trade Minister has
said.
India and Australia have embarked upon talks to
conclude an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
Agreement and the latest engagement resulted in an initiative
being launched to develop two-way trade between the two
nations and its success is expected to add over USD 40 billion
to each economy.
In a recent interview of Australian Trade Minister
Craig Emerson by ABC radio, he stressed on the growing
importance of India, especially in the backdrop of India's
quest for food security.
"With our two-way relationship with India, I think
food security is going to be an issue for India and other
countries of the region. The more they seek self-sufficiency
in one type of food, that's less land available for another
type of food.
Interestingly, we're a major exporter of chick peas to
India, and so that's a source of protein in Indian food," he
said.
"So there are boundless opportunities and I think we
have under-tapped the potential over this period since 1991,"
he commented.
To a query on whether the Australian government seeks
to gain some concessions with regard to the massive tariffs
imposed by India on food and agricultural products, he said
the government would be looking at a reduction in these
barriers at least in some lines and gradual elimination over
time.
On the issue of whether doubling two-way trade within
five years was achievable, the minister said, "A lot of it in
the short-term is likely to be growth in minerals, in
commodities. I think our single biggest export at the moment
is gold, but that's going to broaden. We're a big exporter of
hard minerals, but that will diversify over time as well."
The minister also stressed on the vital ties that two
sides shared in the education sector.
He said the relationship had suffered due to the spate
of attacks on Indian students and the high dollar value.
"But the good news is most of that's behind us and now
there's this sort of re-engagement at a very high level on
education exports, if you like to call them exports," he
added.
He expressed his confidence that the tensions between
the two sides were over and a history, assuring of a high
quality, competitive and welcoming education market for
students from India.