Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged captains of industry and business of Australia to invest in India given numerous economic reforms and initiatives launched by the Government for ease of doing business and boosting economic growth.
He gave this invitation during a business roundtable with the CEOs of top Australian companies in Sydney.
The participating CEOs represented leading companies operating across a diverse range of sectors, including steel, banking, energy, mining and IT, among others. Vice Chancellors from some of the leading universities of Australia also participated in the roundtable.
Prime Minister Modi highlighted numerous economic reforms and initiatives launched by the Government for ease of doing business and boosting economic growth.
These include Mission Gati Shakti for integrated approach towards infrastructure connectivity projects, Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile trinity, National Education Policy, Hydrogen Mission 2050, PLI scheme, opening of private investment in domain of space and geospatial sector, new policy of medical devices manufacturing, and Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme besides others, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Modi invited the CEOs to take advantage of investment opportunities offered by India in domains of infrastructure, including digital infrastructure, IT, fintech, telecom, semiconductors, space, renewable energy, including green hydrogen, education, pharma, healthcare including medical devices manufacturing, mining including critical minerals, textile, agriculture, and food processing. Modi also encouraged the CEOs to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with their Indian counterparts.
On May 23, the Prime Minister met business leaders of top Australian companies and called for enhancing cooperation with the Indian industry in areas such as technology, skilling and clean energy.
Modi arrived in Sydney on Monday for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour. He is visiting Australia as a guest of the Australian Government.
Modi held bilateral meetings with Hancock Prospecting Executive Chairman Gina Rinehart, Fortescue Future Industry Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest and AustraliaSuper CEO Paul Schroder.
During April 2000 and December 2022, India received USD 1.07 billion in investments from Australia, according to government data.
Both countries have already implemented an interim free trade agreement on December 29 last year.
The two nations are now engaged in widening the scope of that agreement into a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).
Australia was the 13th largest trading partner of India in 2022-23. While exports stood at USD 6.95 billion, imports from that country aggregated at USD 19 billion.
India is Australia’s largest export market for gold and chickpeas, the second-largest market for coal and copper ores and the third-largest market for lead and wool. Key imports from Australia include coal, copper ores and concentrates and petroleum.
