Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu on Monday said the trade between India and Australia is growing year by year and hoped that the two countries could “do a lot more together.”
“Last year we saw 10 per cent growth in Australian exports to India but we also saw 10 per cent growth in Indian exports to Australia. It is growing year by year. We can do a lot more together,” said Sidhu while talking to ANI.
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At present, India is actively involved with the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — for trade.
Equally important are its six Free Trade Agreement (FTA) — China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) covers a large percentage of global trade affairs.
RCEP’s proposed FTA between the ten member states of ASEAN is instrumental in building trade and trade relationships at the world forum
“A lot of trades do happen between Australia and India that we do not see. A large chunk of Australian investments is coming into building roads and other facilities. The very big and diverse texture of trade relationship is there between these two countries.”
India is Australia’s fourth-largest trading partner.
“Similarly, ASEAN is a very important partner for Australia. We have been the part of the ASEAN family for 50 years also. It is an economic weight in the world forum,” added Sidhu.
(With ANI Inputs)