New Delhi: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal left New Delhi on a 5-day visit to Australia on Tuesday.
His visit comes days after India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) on Saturday, 2nd April. During the visit, I will take the ECTA to people, Shri Goyal said, adding that interactions had been planned with Business leaders, Indian students, diaspora, etc.
As per press release issued by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, during the visit Goyal will hold wide-ranging discussions with his Australian counterpart, Dan Tehan MP, 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 and provides for an institutional mechanism to improve trade between the two countries.
The release added that Goyal will also hold talks with Tony Abbott, Australian PM’s Special Trade Envoy this evening.
During his packed schedule, Goyal will visit the University of Melbourne and Australia India Institute tomorrow. He will address a public conversation with Minister Dan Tehan and Mr Allan Myers, Chancellor, University of Melbourne, at the Melbourne Law School in The University of Melbourne.
On Thursday, 7th April, 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. Goyal will later address the Emerging Diaspora Business Leaders Reception hosted by India-Australia Business and Community Awards (IABCA).
Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India and India is Australia’s 9th largest trading partner. The
Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) is expected to almost double the bilateral trade from $ 27.5 bn (2021) to about $ 45 to $ 50 Billion in next 5 years.
ECTA is expected to create new employment opportunities, raise living standards and enhance the overall welfare of the peoples of both the countries. Additional employment generation is expected to be 10 lakhs within the next 5 years.