The Bengal Chamber organized an Interactive Session with Mr Andrew Ford, Hon'ble Consul General, Consulate General of Australia in Kolkata during its Managing Committee meeting on 24th July 2019.

Mr. Andrew Ford, Hon'ble Consul General, Consulate General of Australia in Kolkata, is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was previously Head of Mission, Australian High Commission, Tonga, a South Pacific island. He had previously served in Kuala Lampur and Seoul in Canberra. A Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from Monash University, Mr. Ford held a range of positions, including the position of Director of the Free Trade Agreement Policy and New Issues Section. The Australian Consulate-General in Kolkata is Australia's fourth diplomatic post in India, the other three being New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The Consulate- General had recently re-opened its office in Kolkata and this meeting was the Consul General's first business meeting in the State of West Bengal.

Mr. Ford thanked members for their warm welcome before his lucid presentation on 'Perspectives on Trade and Investments' between India and Australia'. He went on to explain the India Economic Strategy 2035 which is an independent report to the Government which looks at how Australia could build deep economic partnership with India over the next two decades. This strategy was written by Mr. Peter N Varghese, who was Australian High Commissioner to India from 2010 to 2014. He was also the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He brings a very deep understanding of both Australia and India. The Strategy is an independent assessment about the current and future economic policy towards India and involved wide consultations between the two countries. The report was publicly released in July 2018. It is virtually a blue print now for conducting business between the two countries. The Australian Government also released a formal response strategy in November last year when the President of India had visited Australia which was the first visit to Australia by an Indian President.

Mr. Andrew Ford went on to explain why Australia needed an India Economic Strategy. Australia had also done another important paper in 2017 which was a Foreign Policy White Paper which placed India at the top tier amongst their international partners. With this Australia's economic policy was at par with the strategic relationship. It was felt that there was a need to deepen the two-dimensional economic relationship between the two countries, mostly on free trade and negotiations. This strategy has been written mostly from the Australian point of view and it was equally important to build a India-literacy in Australia.

Mr. Ford went on to say that today India is Australia's sixth largest trading partner. The two-way trade has grown by over 15% a year over the past 5 years. However, there was a need to grow and make significant change to reach the desired level. Australia's trade with India represents about 3.6% of its global trade, the large trading partners being China (25.2%), Japan (10.1%) and United States (8.7%), followed by Korea and Singapore who all come under the top 10 trading nations of Australia. Australia's exports to India constitutes coal (11% of the country's total exports to India), education related travel, copper and gold. What India was exporting to Australia was primarily refined petroleum, railway vehicles, pearls and gems. He felt that there was a growing need to build the India- Australia relationship as economic relations underpinned a country's international relationship. Countries who have invested in each other do have a keen interest in each other prosperity, security and stability.

There is a need to build 'India Literacy' in Australia. The Report, he spoke about, was designed for an Australian audience. The understanding between the two countries are still not as it should be. Beyond education and resources, India current does not actually look at Australia as a preferred partner. Australia wants to try and change this. The India Economic Strategy aims at promoting long-terms relations between the two countries in the highest levels of the Australian Government and the Prime Ministers of the two countries are fully committed to this. The key conclusion of this Strategy is that over the next twenty years or so when India is poised to become the third largest economy of the world, more opportunities are likely to open up for Australia. The report covers challenges faced and provides practical road maps to Australians doing business in India. The strategy sets a number of ambitious goals which pertain to lifting India into the top three export markets, making India the third largest destination for outward investment, and bringing India into Australia's inner circle of relationships. The core of the Strategy revolves around a 'Sectors and States' framework. Ten priority sectors and 10 priority States, including West Bengal have been identified to remain focussed. The 10 priority sectors include Education, Agri-business, Resources, Tourism, Energy, Health, Financial services, Science and innovation, Infrastructure and Sport. The 10 States have been chosen because of a combination of economic depth, commitment to reforms, competitive advantage for Australia, ease of doing business etc.

Mr. Ford felt that The Chamber would be interested to know why West Bengal has been chosen as a preferred State. West Bengal was a centre of India's mining and resources sector and it is a regional hub for Australia's engagement on mining and materials. It is also a gateway to the mining resource of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Australia sees several opportunities here in energy, agriculture, education and health- care sectors. For this reason, Kolkata has been chosen as a Centre of presence of an Australian mission. The State is also a gateway to the North East. Strengths that the State and the region has in mining and minerals could open up opportunities towards India's desire to be self-sufficient in this area. Australia would have a lot to offer, particularly as a supplier of mining equipment, technology and services. The Strategy looked at thinking differently towards India over the other economic partners of Australia like North East Asia, Japan, China, Korea etc. Australia will bring in not just Australian products but expertise and knowledge as well.

The Consul General stated that Australia believed in building relationships through people to people links. They believed this could come through a very large number of Indian people who live in Australia. Education and Tourism are the two priority sectors in this Report in finally connecting people in this relationship through better understanding. Looking at migration into Australia by citizenship in 2016-2017, India was at the top. Indian migration to Australia has increased dramaticallyover the last decade. At almost 700,000 strong (or nearly 3% of Australian population), the Indian diaspora already makes a significant contribution to its economy and society. This diaspora can build relationships where governments cannot. It creates personal links, and sustains effort and engagement over time. The diaspora, with their deep understanding of both countries, couldhelp overcome difficulties. The reports indicates that the most ambitious goal of the Strategy is to have Australian investment in India rise to over $A 100 billion from the current level of $A 15 billion. Finally, the Consul General said that while considering why India should really be doing business with Australia which apparently is a small market, having just reached 25 million, it should be borne in mind that population and size were obviously not the only measure of the potential of an economic relationship. Australia is a high-value market and had also been through several reforms on competition policies, privatisations etc.

The Australian Government was committed to support, in principle, recommendations of the Report. One of the recommendations of the Report was to set up a Consul General's Office in Kolkata. The focus will be around the ten sectors and 10 Indian states identified in the report. Ministerial champions would be appointed for the Strategy's major sectors. The Australian Government is very committed to make this work. The Indian Government has also responded very strongly and positively on this Report and has commissioned a similar report. CII has now been commissioned to do a similar report for the Indian Government which will be Australian Economic Strategy for India. He further stated that the idea of having a team on the ground at Kolkata from Australia was to build the right networks, build links with the Government of West Bengal as well as businesses here and to promote delegations both ways. This was a start of a long term project.

Mr. Andrew Ford's presentation was followed by a very invigorating round of questions and answers session. Mr. B B Chatterjee, President Designate, proposed a vote of thanks for a very comprehensive presentation on how India Australia relationship can be further strengthened through a clear road map for increasing India-Australia trade and areas of bilateral co-operation.