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Australia believes that there is a “huge amount of opportunity” for trade relations between the two countries despite the Indian Government's flip-flop on the telecommunication sector.
“We are focussed on strengthening that relationship further and pursuing more trading opportunities. The fact that both countries have a strong programme focussed on innovation is a very important mutual agenda. And one creates the opportunity for further trade relationship and further investment,” the Australian Minister for Industry and Innovation, Ms Kate Lundy, told Business Line .
The Minister added that with interest in India being high there was a lot of optimism about the future.
Though the Minister said that Australian companies had “not expressed concern about the environment in India,” a senior official of the Australian High Commission added that it was true that the Supreme Court's decision on 2G and Vodafone had made companies uneasy about the policy environment in India.
He, however, pointed out that none of the Australian companies were concerned about these decisions, but companies from other countries which were affected by these decisions. The diplomat added that a lot companies were looking for a signal that things will proceed in a rational and planned way.
The Minister added that India will be the partner country for Cebit which is being held in Sydney this month.
This will involve a Ministerial delegation from India going to Australia and Indian companies participating in the Expo.
“Mr Som Mittal is going to be one of the keynote speakers in the Indian delegation. Just the opportunity to get Australian and Indian companies on one platform will hopefully lead to some further collaborations and partnerships,” Ms Lundy said.
The Minister added that at present there were many opportunities in Australia to further develop partnerships and collaborations with India.
This includes investment in Australia's national broad band network.
“I think it is generating a lot of interest from ICT companies around the world. Companies are also developing applications for a universal high band network including e-education, e-health and other Government services across that network,” the Minister added.
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