New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday met with Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell and Skills and Training Minister Andrew J Giles, in Melbourne and held discussions on strengthening economic relations between India and Australia.

“Our constructive discussions focused on unlocking the full potential of the India-Australia economic partnership, including through an ambitious and balanced Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement,” he wrote on X.

India and Australia have a strong trade relationship that is strengthening, particularly after the implementation of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in 2022. India’s main exports to Australia include petroleum products, engineering goods, and pharmaceuticals, while Australia’s primary exports to India are coal, gold, and copper. Both countries are working to further deepen economic ties, with a goal of reaching $100 billion in trade by 2030.

In FY25, bilateral trade was $24.1 billion, with India’s goods exports at $8.58 billion and imports at $15.52 billion. The ECTA, which came into effect in December 2022, has accelerated trade between the two nations. Australia has provided preferential market access on 100 per cent of its tariff lines for India, including for goods like textiles, jewellery, and leather products.

India offers preferential access on over 70 per cent of its tariff lines for Australia, particularly for raw materials and intermediaries such as coal and mineral ores.

Piyush Goyal visited Australia after concluding his trip to neighbouring New Zealand.

During his visit, India and New Zealand successfully concluded the fourth round of negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Auckland and Rotorua, an official statement said on Saturday.

It followed five days of constructive and forward-looking discussions between the two sides, according to the Commerce Ministry.

The statement further stated that both sides agreed to sustain momentum through inter-sessional work and continue detailed discussions across all chapters, with a shared determination to move towards early convergence on the India–New Zealand FTA.

Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand Minister for Trade, Todd McClay, acknowledged the steady progress made during this round and reaffirmed their commitment to work towards a modern, comprehensive, and future-ready free trade pact.

According to the ministry, both delegations held detailed engagements across key tracks, including trade in goods, trade in services, economic and trade cooperation, and rules of origin.

–IANS

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