Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

Trade Promotion Council of India organised a webinar ‘Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement on 28th September 2021. The panelists endorsed that since both countries have substantial shares of SME and MSME players, the deal will provide a boost to these sectors on both sides.  

The esteemed panelists discussed in depth the implications of trade agreement on trade and economic growth of both countries. The panelists endorsed that since both countries have substantial shares of SME and MSME players, the deal will provide a boost to these sectors on both sides. 

Panelists also advocated strong synergy in the services sector, while emphasizing that sectors such as energy, mining, education, agriculture and ITES services will gain majorly out of this agreement. The discussion underlined key challenges and ways to mitigate it, so as to achieve speedy conclusion. 

List of esteemed panelists:

• Amb Anil Wadhwa, Ex Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, IFS

• Manoj Pant, Vice Chancellor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)

• Dr. Pralok Gupta, Policy Leader Fellow of the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, Florence and Associate Professor, Centre for WTO Studies, IIFT, New Delhi

• Surojit Gupta, Associate Editor, Times of India

• Anand Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticulture Science), Indian Council of Agricultural Research

• Ravneet Pawha, Deputy Vice President (Global) & CEO (South Asia), Deakin University

• Ravi Mirchandani, Chairperson Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce (IACC) Western India Chapter

 

Focused points under the discussion:

• The strategic and geopolitical relevance of India-Australia bilateral relations

• Complementarity target of India & Australia.

• Challenges in making this deal a success.

• Interoperability- Harmonise standards and remove barriers to trade and investment.

• Relationships: Invest in long term and workable relationships with the people and institutions that matter.

• Striking a knowledge partnership- Exploring synergies in technology, research, training and education sector.

• Solutions and recommendations to the government to fast-track the trade deal.                                                               

The session was moderated by Sameer Pushp, Director-Media and Corporate Communication, Trade Promotion Council of India.