Education and commerce, engaging with technology, will empower us towards action, Goyal said

India and Australia must aspire for a $100 billion bilateral trade target by 2030, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

Addressing the Business Leaders Meeting organised by Business Council of Australia on Thursday, he said the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) will help double bilateral trade in the next 5-6 years.

Goyal said India will set up the Invest India Office and in a few months time open a Trade Promotion Office in Australia in order to realise the potential of the IndAus ECTA.

Terming the IndAus ECTA as a “natural partnership”, Goyal said India is looking at tripling steel production capacity and energy efficiency.

He noted that business will be the framework on which all other engagements between the two sides will prosper.

“I do agree that if you have to reach a 100 billion, we will have to drill it down to more specifics. In those specifics also comes in the soft power, eg we will have to look at much deeper engagements in our Science & Technology, in our research, in our education, we will have to align standards," he said during an interaction.

The minister is on a three-day visit to Australia to meet Australian government and business leaders and discuss how to take the ECTA forward.

Education a bridge between the two countries

Education will act as a bridge between India and Australia, Goyal said during an interaction with Students of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney.

“It has always been an important element of our partnership. In the post-Covid world, we must explore possibilities of hybrid programmes,” he said

Education and Commerce, engaging with Technology, will empower us towards Action, he remarked.

Inviting the University of NSW to expand its footprint in India, Goyal said the India-Australia partnership can truly transform the lives of our people.