Speech by the

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Introduction

The Hon Mr Chidambaram, Minister for Finance and Company Affairs; Dr Irani, Managing Director, TISCO and Past President CII; Mr Deepak Banker, President FICCI; Mr Chidambaram, Member ASSOCHAM; Mr Dhruv Sawhney, Past President CII; my Ministerial and Parliamentary colleagues, both Federal and State, including Senator Warwick Parer, Minister for Resources and Energy, also Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I am delighted to be here to open this historic event.

The Australian Government has made strengthening Australia's relations with India a priority. Given the need to eliminate for all time periods of limbo which have existed over the last forty years with Australia India relations, I am not interested in bilateral relations of tremendous tranquillity but rather tremendous expanding activity.

We are committed to building a stronger relationship with India and I am pleased to say that Australian business people are fully supporting the Government in this endeavour.

We have with us today ministers and representatives from a number of Australian State Governments, including the Deputy Premier of Western Australia and Minister for Commerce and Trade, the Hon Hendy Cowan, the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Dr Andrew Refshauge and Queensland Minister, Doug Slack. I welcome them and the important contribution they are making to forging economic and cultural links between Australia and India.

I also welcome the Federal Oppositions support with the presence of the Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley and Opposition Minister Laurie Brereton.

The Australia India-New Horizons festival is the largest promotion of Australia ever undertaken.

Today I launch the centrepiece of New Horizons - the Business Forum - which in time may well be seen as a turning point in the relationship between our two countries.

The New Horizons Business Forum boasts representatives of over 150 Australian companies, including some of Australia's most senior Chief Executive Officers. This is amply matched by our distinguished Indian counterparts.


Let me also take this opportunity to thank the co-presenters and sponsors of New Horizons.

Corporate support for New Horizons has been very significant and that support indicates to me that the Government is on the right track.

Unprecedented opportunities now exist for strengthened trade and investment between our two countries and I would like to focus, in particular, on that aspect of the relationship today.

New Horizons: Helping Update Perceptions of Each Other.

If we are to achieve the full potential of the relationship, both countries need to improve and renew the way in which Australians and Indians perceive each other.

New Horizons is based on extensive research which indicated that influential Indians, for the most part, know very little about contemporary Australia and the majority of Indians are unaware of Australia's capabilities as a supplier of sophisticated goods and services.

The implications of this research are very clear.

Just as a transformed India deserves to be looked at in a new light by Australian business, so too, Australia needs to make extensive efforts to demonstrate more clearly its expertise across a broader range of products and services.

The New Horizons initiative is doing this directly on three counts, firstly, with excellent timing as economic deregulation continues in India. Secondly, with a new United Front Indian Government in place and thirdly (this one hurts) in the goodwill period the day after a sensational five run win to India in the cricket. And I congratulate Azharuddin on his marvellous 94 runs.

The program is introducing India to a "new" Australia: a country that has real expertise in areas of direct relevance to India's developmental needs and which will be a strong partner for India into the twenty-first century. It is also exposing Australians to modern India.

New Horizons is a comprehensive snapshot of today's Australia.

For example, the Agrotech agribusiness fair, and our Mining and Coal Missions are showcasing Australia's world leading skills in agriculture and resource development.

Australia's international best practise in areas of environment management, health technology, infrastructure development and communications is being exhibited.

Our expertise in legal, educational, financial and tourism services is represented.

Australia's strong base in science and technology is on show at the Science and Technology Colloquium.

Also, New Horizons showcases Australia on the sporting front and the cultural front.

Finally, a large number of Australia's most successful business people have come to India during New Horizons to investigate India's commercial potential.

New Horizons is an exhibition of what modern Australia is all about - a diverse and sophisticated country, excelling in its traditional strengths, but also fully adapted to the modern world.

Change and Reform in Australia and India

Australia

The extent of change that has occurred in Australia in recent times is not always well understood.

Let me take a few moments to give some sense of the reforms that have taken place.

Australia is comprehensively internationalising its economy.

We now have a deregulated and highly competitive financial sector, a general tariff rate of 5 per cent, a diversified manufacturing and services sector, and efficient agricultural and mining sectors.

The Australian economy has grown faster than most developed countries over the past few years and has done so with low inflation.

Australian businesses now look to export and invest overseas. Trade amounts to 40 per cent of Australia's GDP, and manufactures make up nearly 35 per cent of merchandise exports.

Sixty per cent of Australia's exports now go to Asia and over half of our foreign direct investment now goes to countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Our traditional markets are still important. But this is not at the expense of our engagement with the newly industrialised countries of Asia.

Australia's social make-up is also changing. Twenty-five per cent of Australia's population was born overseas and around 40 per cent of Australia's new migrants come from Asia. Among those migrants has been a strong contingent of people born in India. I want to acknowledge the significant contribution of Australia's Indian-born community to Australia's economic and social life and their vital role in fostering Australia-India relations.

These economic and social changes have made Australia a better place - more competitive, more cosmopolitan, more tolerant, more diverse.

The Australian Government is committed to further economic reform to improve our competitiveness and further integrate Australia with the international economy. For example, currently we are pursuing comprehensive labour market reform and accelerating competition policy.

These are issues with which Indians are very familiar.

India

India's economic reforms over the past few years have been very impressive.

Tariffs have been slashed, industrial licensing dismantled, and the Rupee floated.

Economic growth in India is now running at over 6 per cent per annum. The Indian elephant is running pretty quickly these days, and there is no doubt that India is on the move.

As with Australia, however, economic reform must continue if India is to optimise its economic potential.

In this context, it is encouraging to see the new United Front Government's commitment to further economic reform and its ambitious development and growth goals.

I particularly welcome the recent decision to ease regulations covering exploration in the mining sector. This is an important step.

Like the Australian Government, the United Front is facing up to the big challenges of economic change which, if achieved, will no doubt bring real benefits for all Indians.

Australia and India: Developing Closer Ties

India is set to become one of the top half-dozen economies in the world early next century. It is fast becoming an engine of growth and has the potential to help drive the economies of our region faster and further than ever before.

This is especially so given India's growing engagement with the countries of East Asia.

Recognising India's increasing importance in the region, the Australian Government, this year, strongly supported India joining the ASEAN Regional Forum, and welcomes India's attainment of dialogue partnership status with ASEAN. We also welcome India's participation in the APEC Energy Group and acknowledge India's case for membership of APEC.

Developments in the Indian Ocean are also gaining momentum. It is a region of great potential and growing links. Australia is keen to work with India on advancing Indian Ocean Regional Cooperation - which we hope to see expand in years to come.

India is therefore becoming one of Australia's most important regional and bilateral partners, especially at a commercial level.

Trade and investment have picked up substantially in the last few years. Since 1991, bilateral trade has grown by nearly 90 per cent to reach A$ 1.7 billion in 1995-96.

On current trends we expect that by the year 2000, India will be among Australia's top ten trading partners, and Australia is already one of the top ten investors in India. This situation will further improve with the soon to be finalised Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between our two countries.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The potential of the Australia-India economic partnership is immense.

Smart business people in Australia and India are aware of this and are working assiduously to develop their links. The companies in attendance at this Forum underline this point.

The ANZ Banking Group, for example, now has one of the largest foreign banking presences in India.

Qantas is flying Indians around the world, and I am pleased to say that it will be doing so more frequently as Australia and India have just revised our Air Services Agreement to reflect the growing traffic between us.

RTZ-CRA, BHP and White Industries are bringing world class mining skills and technology to India.

Telstra and Data Craft are active in the telecommunications industry.

Command Petroleum is busy with offshore oil and gas development.

Snowy Mountains Engineering and Pacific Power are involved in infrastructure development.

Clayton Utz, Coopers and Lybrand and Price Waterhouse are providing legal and accounting services, and Australian educational services are making headway in India.

In areas of priority for India's development, Australian companies have great strengths. They are serious about India and they are here because they are the best at what they do.

The Role of Government

The Australian and Indian Governments are also providing an impetus for the commercial partnership.

I have mentioned the economic reform process in both countries.

More specifically, the bi-annual Australia-India Joint Ministerial Commission provides an important framework for dialogue on strengthening the commercial relationship.

This is reinforced by an increasing number of ministerial and senior officials visits.

In August, an Australian Parliamentary delegation visited India. In October, the Indian Minister for Steel, Mr Baishya, visited Australia, and New Horizons has brought five Australian Ministers to India.

Apart from myself, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Education, Employment and Youth Affairs, the Minister for Telecommunications and the Arts, and the Minister for Resources and Energy are all visiting India as part of the New Horizons festival.

Australian State Governments have also been working to strengthen trade and investment between our two countries.

I particularly welcome the West Australian Government's recent initiative to open an office in Mumbai for trade and investment promotion.

Western Australia and Maharashtra are now creating a productive rapport that reflects the growing sophistication in our bilateral relations more broadly.

Trade policy is, of course, a key component in promoting trade and investment.

For its part, the Australian Government stresses the need for bilateral initiatives to improve market share and access. This is supported by a commitment to regional trade liberalisation and the rules of the multilateral trading system.

The Uruguay Round's success has demonstrated the advantages of free trade. The current high growth in world trade and the prosperity accompanying it would have been impossible without the security provided by multilateral trade disciplines.

Australia will continue working for the establishment of a more liberal international trading system under the WTO. This is a task for the whole world and I would urge India to take a leading role.

Conclusion

The New Horizons festival is about improving our knowledge of one another. It is about bringing our governments, private sectors and people closer together.

Australia is a sophisticated, technologically-advanced society with a diverse and tolerant people. I encourage you to visit some of the other New Horizons events to see for yourselves.

Australia is working to become a permanent part of the landscape in South Asia. New Horizons is not a culmination, but the start of new links and projects between Australia and India.

In another positive step to advance our friendship, I am pleased to announce today that the Australian Government's Australia India Council, in conjunction with the Australia-India Business Council, will from next year fund a work exchange program for young Indian and Australian business executives to acquire work experience and training in each other's countries.

We hope that this important initiative will make a lasting contribution to the development of mutual contact and understanding between the business sectors of both countries.

At the end of the day, however, governments can only do so much.

It is business people who do business, and it is people like you that really hold in your hands the future of Australia-India relations.

I began by saying that this was a historic occasion. That is because, by confronting the implications of change, Australia and India have both embarked upon reforms that are taking us down new and prosperous paths.

These paths are converging and now we have the opportunity to help one another in our journeys to prosperity.

I believe Australia has much to offer India and we are ready to work with India in its enormous and vital development task.

You will play an integral part in expanding Australia-India partnership. This Business Forum provides excellent opportunities to rise to the challenges facing both countries.

I wish you all the best in making the right contacts, and translating those contacts into contracts.