Dear Friends in Australia,
It gives me immense pleasure to share with you that India and Australia have signed a historic India Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind Aus ECTA) on 2nd April 2022.
With the signing of this agreement, two great nations have come together to redefine their economic relations with great opportunities and possibilities in terms of market access for goods and services, covering key areas of supply chain.
Alignedwith Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and the Australian Prime Minister H.E. Scott Morrison’s India Economic Strategy 2035, the agreement apart from boosting bilateral trade covers many areas with potential to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
India and Australia share a special partnership characterized by shared values of pluralistic, parliamentary
democracies, expanding economic and strategic engagement, and long standing people-to-people ties. In this
context, the agreement is of great importance not only in terms of the impetus that they will give to the bilateral trade between the two countries but also because of our 700,000 strong Indian diaspora comprising Australians of Indian descent and Indian citizens residing in Australia.
One of the key highlights of the agreement is that 100% of the Indian goods will get duty-free access in the
Australian market. This must be great news for a lot of you living in Australia who have been waiting for Indian products at affordable prices.
In the Services Sector, mutual gains will be in a large number of areas including IT, ITES, Business, Professional Services, Health, Education, Audio-visual etc, which will provide great opportunities for the businesses.
Further, you can play a key role in boosting the Startup India initiative of the Indian government as many of you already have the knowledge of the Indian market. Your contribution in mobilizing confidence of investors in Indian Startups can play a vital role in their success story.
I hope the agreement shall play a key role in further strengthening the relationship between the two countries
by building links in the business and education sector, the arts and civil society.