NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is off to India this week, heading a trade mission there after Japan and Korea.
The news comes even as Western Australia’s largest business delegation to India is currently on (July 12-19), led by Roger Cook (Deputy Premier of WA and Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade) and David Templeman (Minister for Education).
The NSW mission will take place from July 21-29, taking in Japan (Tokyo and Hiroshima), South Korea (Seoul) and India (Mumbai and Bengaluru).
This is Mr Perrottet’s first overseas visit as Premier and the first overseas visit for a NSW Premier since the pandemic forced international border closures.
Mr Perrottet will be joined by Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Minister for Tourism and Sport, and Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres for the Indian leg of the visit.
They take with them a packed agenda that “firms up new agreements, reboots our visitor economy and international education sectors, and drives investment in priority growth sectors like clean energy production, where NSW aspires to be a global leader,“ according to a statement issues by the Premier’s office.
The trade mission takes advantage of NSW’s economic resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic to give the state a head-start in attracting new investment as international markets reopen.
“The pandemic has slowed global trade relations, but NSW is open for business and we have pressing trade and investment opportunities with key regional partners,” Mr Perrottet said.
“This trade mission will reaffirm critical international relationships and progress important agreements, to give our state a critical advantage in attracting investment in future growth sectors, including advanced manufacturing and green hydrogen production.
“These are the economic opportunities that will create high quality jobs for current and future generations, but only if we seize the moment and secure international investment right now as global trade starts to fire up again.”
It was also announced that Mr Ayres will lead a new annual trade delegation of government officials and industry representatives to bring NSW businesses to India to promote NSW exports and grow business partnerships.
“NSW has a strong economic and cultural relationship with India. We are home to the largest Indian population in Australia, India is our third-largest source of international students and is our fastest growing tourism market with Indian visitors spending an estimated $444 million in 2019,” Mr Ayres said.
“With the signing of an historic new trade agreement earlier this year, a new direct airline service between Sydney and Southern India, the return of international students and increased investment, NSW is poised to make the most of the immense opportunities between our two nations.”
The Premier’s visit follows a number of high-profile visits in recent weeks between both countries. The two Prime Ministers, Modi and Albanese met at Tokyo in May for a Quad summit, as did the Foreign Ministers. Two senior Indian ministers have visited Australia since, Piyush Goyal (Minister for Commerce and Industry) and Pralhad Joshi (Minister for Coal and Mines).
Richard Marles, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence visited India recently.
