Piyush Goyal seeks investments from Australia; assures better returns

Piyush Goyal said that Australian firms that would invest in India can own 100 per cent of their companies and keep their technology and trade secrets.

New Delhi: Seeking investments, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India and Australia can enhance cooperation in areas such as skill development, education, services sectors, information technology, manufacturing and internet of things.

He said Australian firms that would invest in India can own 100 per cent of their companies and keep their technology and trade secrets.

“You get a huge market (in India) with huge defence budgets, particularly considering the situation and the neighbourhood in which we are located. We would love to see investments growing into India from Australia and I will assure you that you will get far better returns than the return you get in your own country today,” Goyal said in a luncheon meeting with businesses of both the countries here.

India and Australia have recently inked economic cooperation and trade agreements to boost economic ties.

In this agreement, the minister said, India is looking at several ways to expand relationships, particularly in the fields of skill development, education, and services sectors, which hold huge potential.

“Probably (we can look at) even developing 5G telecom systems together,” he added.

Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra's 9th largest partner. India's goods exports were worth USD 6.9 billion and imports aggregated to USD 15.1 billion in 2021.

Goyal also called upon the Indian community in Australia to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on 21st June at 75 iconic locations in Australia to mark the 75th Anniversary of India's Independence, an official release said.

"I'm sure the world will notice the symbolism of this Unity reflected in our celebration of Yoga across the world, beginning from Australia," said Goyal, addressing the Community Centre Indian Society of Western Australia (ISWA) in Perth.

Goyal said India was ?very keen? to have Yoga Instructors and Indian chefs come to Australia as part of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA).

For the first time Australia has committed to provide work opportunity to the students with extended periods of Work Visas, he said. Also Read: ‘Twitter’s next board meeting is gonna be lit’, Elon Musk jokes about smoking weed at upcoming meet

"Our students who come here can add to the pool of talent and skill that Australia seriously needs, our IT professionals can help bring greater degree of technological skills, our STEM graduates can contribute to the economy in Australia in a big way," he said. Also Read: Wipro appoints Anis Chenchah as CEO, APMEA