Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday urged industries to immediately initiate market access measures and establish contacts with their counterparts in Australia and UAE to take advantage of the conducive platform created through path-breaking trade agreements with the two countries.

“Our industries could also undertake some market studies or surveys on industries and demand patterns in UAE and Australia to tap the potential effectively in the post-trade agreement period. Since demand patterns have changed in the post-Covid phase, such surveys could be helpful. Our industries should also develop some risk appetite for future growth,” she said while addressing Stakeholder’s outreach programme, India-UAE CEPA and India-Australia ECTA here

Investable capital

Since UAE has evinced interest to invest about $75 billion in India, industries in India could use this opportunity to expand or scale up their businesses by way of collaboration and joint ventures with businesses in the UAE.

“This huge capital is waiting for you to be utilised. In addition to this, there is a lot of investable capital that keeps flowing into the country. Our industries could take the help of our Invest India, the country’s national investment facilitation agency, to identify the right partners for joint ventures and collaborations,” she said,

Infra development

Sitharaman urged all state governments, including Tamil Nadu, to speed up infrastructure development projects in corridors and places that will drive industrial growth and exports. She stated that this year’s budget had made a higher allocation of about ₹7.5-lakh crore (as compared to ₹5.5-lakh crore last year), of which ₹1-lakh crore has been earmarked for states to utilise for infrastructure development.

“If needed, the Centre will also extend more funds for the development of infrastructure to support industrial growth in states,” she added.

She also stated that the supply of uninterrupted quality power is key for industrial development in the country and all states should work on energy planning so that there is no power shortfall.

‘Trusted partner’

Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said India as a nation has emerged as a trusted partner insofar as the global supply chains that the country serves. And today, the effort of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is to promote our exports, particularly after the conclusion of these two very important bilateral agreements – CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with UAE) and ECTA (Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement with Australia). 

“We have fulfilled our promise of taking our bilateral relationships to the next level. But now there is a huge expectation from you to make use of this big opportunity. We can only encourage you and show you the way. There is a tremendous untapped potential which lies in the confidential business ecosystems of both our partner countries, whether it is India-UAE or India-Australia, but it is still waiting to be tapped. And it is for you to make use of the opportunity,” she said.

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