The Hindu Business Line : Kamal Nath pitches for Australian investment

THE Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, has invited Australia to invest in India's infrastructure development, particularly in road and energy sectors, using its continental size and experience.

Speaking at three different meetings in Sydney today, the visiting Indian Trade Minister also underscored the need to diversify the basket of trade so as to enhance the level of two-way trade from the extant level of about $5.5 billion to $8 billion within the next couple of years.

Mr Nath also stressed the need to remove non-tariff barriers so that the target of $8 billion trade turnover could be achieved.

"If market access is to become a reality, then non-tariff barriers in the shape of sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and technical barriers to trade will have to be dealt with. We have to create a truly facilitating climate if we are going to experience a quantum leap in trade," Mr Nath remarked. He said a major outcome of the India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) held during the day was the proposed Trade and Economic Framework Agreement which would establish a new and forward-looking mechanism to guide the bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Mr Nath also regretted that Australian investment in India during the last 15 years has been stagnant at A$200 million , which was a negligible fraction of the total Australian foreign investment and an equally negligible fraction of the FDI flows in India. "It is amazing-but true-that Indian investment in Australia is greater than this. While the Government of India is extremely happy that Indian companies are investing abroad and will do everything to support companies which wish to invest in Australia, I think it is only natural that Australian investment in India is in great need of being pumped up," he said.

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