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The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal today said Education will act as a bridge between India and Australia. Education and Commerce, engaging with Technology, will empower us towards Action, he said.

“It has always been an important element of our partnership. In the post-Covid world, we must explore possibilities of hybrid programmes,” said Goyal, in his address during an Interaction with Students of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney.

Terming the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) as a “natural partnership”, the Minister said India is looking at tripling steel production capacity and energy efficiency.

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“A lot of the good work that researchers come up with does not get that kind of scale, that kind of opportunity to operationalise,” said Shri Goyal. “With that scale, we can make medical care more affordable, with that scale we can make technology come to serve larger numbers of people, manufactured at scale, using the talent that we have in both countries, possibly the talent in Australia coming up with game-changing research, the talent in India helping it to manufacture that at scale, use that at scale, serving large sections of society in the world and from there taking it to the rest of the world. And I do believe that such partnerships are important for the world” he added.

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

Later addressing the Business Leaders Meeting, organised by the Business Council of Australia, the Minister said business will be the framework on which all other engagements between the two sides will prosper.

“You can actually take your technologies, take the wonderful innovations that you are generating out your laboratories, research institutions or universities to a large market like India, use the talent and skills that Indians offer, possibly to Make in India for the large Indian population and for the world, – Make in India for the World,” he said.

IndAus ECTA will help us double our bilateral trade in the next five to six years and by 2030 we must aspire for a $100 billion bilateral trade target, he said.

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“I do agree that if you have to reach 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. So we will have to get our standards bodies to look at working with each other so that products can seek seamless access in other’s markets,” said the Minister, while interacting with the host of the show.

He 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.

(With inputs from PIB)

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