“The Australian economy is doing well, Victoria is doing well, but you don't get success by standing still.”

These words of Ms Louise Asher, Victoria's Minister for Innovation, Services & Small Business, Tourism & Major Events, pretty much sum up her trade mission's India agenda.

The Minister is leading a delegation of over 60 companies from Victoria on a five-day visit to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, which ends on Friday. They represent a host of sectors including automotive, aviation, clean technology, ICT (information & communications technology), construction and food and beverages. This, incidentally, is the first trade mission since the newly elected Victoria Government came to power in end-November.

“This is the largest delegation coming from Victoria and even Australia. The intent is engagement with India and creation of business opportunities. We are very keen to pursue this economic relationship,” Ms Asher told Business Line .

Two of Victoria's famous Indian residents are Infosys and Wipro. The top priority now is to expand the list. “We actively seek investment in Victoria and we want businesses/ foreign capital such as Infosys because it is about jobs,” she added.

Victoria has a whole lot of local companies that are small and, therefore, need the right opportunities to grow. As Ms Asher put it, if they want to expand and create jobs, they need to export and this is where India becomes relevant.

“We want a complete two-way engagement. There are significant opportunities here for us and for India in Victoria,” she said.

Interestingly, each State in Australia is absolutely independent while pitching for new investments or building trade relationships with other countries. “Our States are internally very competitive, be it New South Wales or Victoria and so on. They do their own thing in key areas and compete for businesses. The constitution clearly defines what federal and State responsibilities are about,” Ms Asher said.

Australia, for instance, may be easily synonymous with exports of iron ore and coal, but Victoria's strengths lie in areas such as education and tourism. “We are not a mining state, but a services state,” she said. Despite that, Victoria, which barely accounts for 20 per cent of Australia's land mass, contributes to 25 per cent of its GDP.

This trade mission could only be the tip of the iceberg for Victoria's ties with India, going by Ms Asher's experience. “This has been a very good visit and there is a sense of excitement all around. It is our Government's intention to have an intensive two-year period of engagement with India and we will have larger delegations in the near future,” she said.

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