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Australia plans super trade missions to India
After facing a lot of flak over racist attacks and the subsequent steep fall in the number of Indian students, an Australian state has kickstarted a programme to boost educational, cultural and trade ties. As part of a plan to revive Indian interest in Australia, the state of Victoria which accounts for 25 per cent of Australian GDP and 45 per cent of Indian students has launched a multi-million dollar plan including super trade missions to strengthen its relationship with India.
The programme, styled as Engaging India a four-year strategy to strengthen its relationship with India, will involve funding of $4 million for super trade missions. This will be an initiative under the banner of Team Victoria led by senior Victorian government representatives and more than 200 Victorian companies. This is projected to generate an additional $60 million in exports along with similar increases in investment and jobs, Victorias trade commissioner Geoffrey Conaghan said.
In an interview to The Indian Express, the trade commissioner said the programme will also see increasing government collaborations through a strategic partnership with Austrade in India to share information about potential investments and opportunities, more strategic agreements with Indian states backed by an ongoing exchange programme to promote public sector capability building actively supporting visits to Victoria by Indian ministers.
Many Indian companies have planned to invest in Victoria. Similarly, many Victorian companies are looking at opportunities here. The overall sentiment towards Victoria being a preferred trade and investment destination has been validated by major Indian companies which have invested in Victoria in the past few years, he said.
The Engaging India programme will see 10 postgraduate PhD scholarships being provided to Indian students to study in Victorian universities. This $1 million plan is the first country-specific programme for PhD scholarships. There is also a special initiative to establish a Chair in contemporary Indian studies at the Australia India Institute that will see an additional funding of $500,000. The position will be the first in India with multidisciplinary contemporary India focus, Conaghan said.
The two-way trade between India and Victoria is currently at around $1 billion. India is the fastest growing inbound tourism market for Victoria, generating more than 51,000 visitors per annum. In the last 12 months, tourist arrivals to Victoria rose by over 25 per cent, he said.
After facing a lot of flak over racist attacks and the subsequent steep fall in the number of Indian students, an Australian state has kickstarted a programme to boost educational, cultural and trade ties. As part of a plan to revive Indian interest in Australia, the state of Victoria which accounts for 25 per cent of Australian GDP and 45 per cent of Indian students has launched a multi-million dollar plan including super trade missions to strengthen its relationship with India.
The programme, styled as Engaging India a four-year strategy to strengthen its relationship with India, will involve funding of $4 million for super trade missions. This will be an initiative under the banner of Team Victoria led by senior Victorian government representatives and more than 200 Victorian companies. This is projected to generate an additional $60 million in exports along with similar increases in investment and jobs, Victorias trade commissioner Geoffrey Conaghan said.
In an interview to The Indian Express, the trade commissioner said the programme will also see increasing government collaborations through a strategic partnership with Austrade in India to share information about potential investments and opportunities, more strategic agreements with Indian states backed by an ongoing exchange programme to promote public sector capability building actively supporting visits to Victoria by Indian ministers.
Many Indian companies have planned to invest in Victoria. Similarly, many Victorian companies are looking at opportunities here. The overall sentiment towards Victoria being a preferred trade and investment destination has been validated by major Indian companies which have invested in Victoria in the past few years, he said.
The Engaging India programme will see 10 postgraduate PhD scholarships being provided to Indian students to study in Victorian universities. This $1 million plan is the first country-specific programme for PhD scholarships. There is also a special initiative to establish a Chair in contemporary Indian studies at the Australia India Institute that will see an additional funding of $500,000. The position will be the first in India with multidisciplinary contemporary India focus, Conaghan said.
The two-way trade between India and Victoria is currently at around $1 billion. India is the fastest growing inbound tourism market for Victoria, generating more than 51,000 visitors per annum. In the last 12 months, tourist arrivals to Victoria rose by over 25 per cent, he said.
