Days after inking the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has reached Melbourne for a three-day visit to Australia.
India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) on Saturday.
During the visit, Goyal is scheduled to interact with business leaders, Indian students and the diaspora.
Goyal will hold wide-ranging discussions with his Australian counterpart, MP Dan Tehan, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, on carrying forward the ECTA.
ECTA is the first trade agreement of India with a developed country after more than a decade.
It provides for an institutional mechanism to improve trade between the two countries. Goyal will also hold talks with Tony Abbott, Australian PM's Special Trade Envoy.
Goyal will also be meeting Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs Jason Wood, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke, Deputy Premier of Western Australia and Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade, Tourism, Commerce and Science Roger Cook and Shadow Trade Minister Madeline King.
During his packed schedule, Goyal will visit the University of Melbourne and Australia India Institute on April 6. He will address a Public conversation with Minister Dan Tehan and Allan Myers, Chancellor, University of Melbourne, at the Melbourne Law School in The University of Melbourne.
Goyal will also visit the landmark Melbourne Cricket Ground and address the Australia-India Chamber of Commerce and Austrade, along with Minister Dan Tehan, besides interacting with the Indian media. He will later visit the Shiva Vishnu Temple in Melbourne and attend a Community event with the Indian Diaspora.
On April 7, Goyal and Minister Dan Tehan will address and interact with students at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and pay tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the University campus.
He will later address the Emerging Diaspora Business Leaders Reception hosted by India-Australia Business and Community Awards (IABCA). Later in the evening, Goyal, accompanied by Minister Dan Tehan and Minister Alex Hawke, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, will attend a Community event at the Swaminarayan Temple in Sydney. Before leaving Sydney on April 8, Goyal will also meet Alan Joyce, CEO & MD, Qantas Airways.
Goyal will meet with the Australian Agricultural Producers and hold talks with Deputy Premier Roger Cook and Madeline King, Shadow Trade Minister in Perth. He will visit the Western Australia Cricket Ground (WACA) in Perth and attend a Tourism event in conjunction with Tourism Western Australia, besides holding a Press Interaction with the Indian Media Delegation.
On Friday evening, Goyal will address the Community Centre Indian Society of Western Australia (ISWA).
Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India and India is Australia's 9th largest trading partner. The ECTA is expected to almost double the bilateral trade from $ 27.5 bn (2021) to about $ 45 to $ 50 Billion in the next 5 years. ECTA is expected to create new employment opportunities, raise living standards and enhance the overall welfare of the people of both countries. Additional employment generation is expected to be 10 lakhs within the next 5 years.
( With inputs from ANI )
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