India and Australia should look at boosting their bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030 from the current level of around $27.5 billion, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
The union minister, who is in Australia for a three-day visit, said that both the countries are already at an advanced stage of entering into an agreement for greater collaboration in the education sector.
On April 2, India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement under which both the countries are providing duty-free access to a number of goods and relaxing norms to promote trade in services.
"I would suggest that our teams should drill down sector by sector to see how we are going to grow this relationship... Let's be more ambitious, let's look at $100 billion engagement by 2030...," Goyal, who is leading an Indian business delegation in Australia, said. "So, we are looking at quadrupling this relationship in eight years."
Both the countries are also looking at things like providing dual degrees and signing mutual recognition agreements to promote services trade. Goyal said that areas where both the countries can increase collaboration include education, research, startups and agritech.
The minister also sought investments from Australia in infrastructure.
"We have a big market and people aspire for a better quality of life. This gives a huge opportunity for India and people around the world," he said, adding that Australia has a huge investible surplus. "Your investible surplus can get a fair return in India."
The minister also emphasised on the need to strengthen air and shipping connectivity. "I have already talked to DP World, for example, in the UAE that they may look at expanding direct shipping lines and connectivity to Australia from India," Goyal said.
Speaking on the occasion, Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said the India-Australia trade deal is a "unity agreement" and a comprehensive one.
Exporters' body FIEO President A Sakthivel, who is in Australia as part of the Goyal delegation, said the agreement would help in boosting trade between the countries.
Council for Leather Exports Vice Chairman Rajendra Kumar Jalan said that leather is a part of the agreement and the pact would promote its trade with Australia.
Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra's ninth largest. India's goods exports were worth $6.9 billion and imports aggregated to $15.1 billion in 2021.
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