Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
The Australian government is hopeful of securing a free trade agreement (FTA) with India by the end of 2015, stated Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Liberal Senator for Tasmania, Parliament of Australia during his recent visit to the country with a 436 member delegation at the Australia Business Week in India (ABWI). Speaking on this, Colbeck stated, “Prime Ministers – Tony Abbott and Narendra Modi, in their meetings last year agreed to negotiate upon the FTA. The target for the completion of that FTA is 12 months starting from Modi’s visit last year to Australia. By the end of this year we are seeking to have an FTA between the two countries.”
The FTA will help boost and ease the trade opportunities between the two countries across different industries mainly agriculture and food. “We are keen to lower the barriers, make exported Australian products more affordable, open up both the markets for investment, technology transfer and education. It is an ambitious time frame to work in and we hope that the negotiating teams from both the countries can achieve that,” opined Colbeck. Presently, the food and agricultural trade between India and Australia is short of a billion dollars and through the FTA the Australain government hopes to increase it further. “It is quite a significant figure but there is enough opportunity for growth. In the food and dining section, there is real opportunity, and there are a number of things we need to learn what each market wants. For instance, there is a discussion on exporting table grapes from India to Australia,” he added.