AUSTRALIA AND INDIA: MOVING TOWARDS NEW HORIZONS


Address by the Hon Alexander Downer, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the NSW State Chamber of Commerce, Sydney, 4 September 1996.


CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Introduction

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you about the Australia India New Horizons promotion.

This promotion is designed to strengthen the Australia-India relationship - especially our growing trade and investment links.

It is based on the recognition that India's economic and political transformation creates unprecedented opportunities for Australia and India to forge closer links.

The new Australian Government is deeply committed to strengthening our bilateral relationship with India and has already signalled that commitment to the Indian Government. We will not let our disagreements over the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty undermine our strengthening bilateral relationship.

The New Horizons promotion addresses our concern that the people of India have not been made sufficiently aware of Australia as a dynamic and technologically advanced nation.
New Horizons is designed to correct this omission.

Today I would like to outline how the Australian Government is pursuing closer relations with India through the New Horizons promotion.

I will do so firstly, by examining the recent changes which have occurred in India and the increased potential this creates for Australian business. Secondly, I would like to outline how Australia is addressing these changes and the scope this offers Australia for increased involvement. Finally, I propose to set out how New Horizons will capitalise on the opportunities for greater co-operation between out two countries generally.

India's Emergence

India is undergoing vast transformation. Since 1991, India has embarked on very extensive economic reforms and reoriented itself internationally.

Reforms such as the dismantling of the industrial licensing system, the eradication of tariffs and the simplification of the tax system have contributed to economic growth, which in 1995-96, reached 7 per cent. With India's encouragement of foreign investment, growth is expected to continue at over 6 per cent per annum into the next decade.

India is now not only one of the world's most prosperous markets but its cultural resurgence, sheer size and more prominent role in regional and global affairs mean that a very different India faces the world today.

India's `Look East' policy of engagement with East Asia has been extremely successful. Late last year, India was granted full dialogue status with ASEAN and in July, with the new Australian Government's strong support, it became a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

In the longer term, India is looking to join APEC when that grouping reaches a consensus about again opening its membership.

Australia and India are also working closely together to promote greater co-operation in the Indian Ocean region, especially in the areas of trade and investment. At a meeting in Mauritius next week, Australia and India, together with other Indian Ocean regional countries, will explore proposals for an Indian Ocean Regional Economic Association.

Australia and India: Fulfilling the Potential

India's increased competitiveness has created unprecedented opportunities for foreign trade and investment in one of the world's largest economies and increasingly competitive markets. Australia, for its part, needs to respond energetically to the opportunities provided by India's transformation.

Australian companies, I am pleased to say, are beginning to rise to the economic possibilities offered by India.

This is reflected in the dramatic growth in two-way trade which has increased to more than A$1.7 billion last financial year. This should double again by the year 2000.

Australian exports to India are growing at over 20 per cent annually and, on current trends, India will be amongst Australia's top ten trading partners within the next three years.

Australian investment in India is also expanding rapidly, from a negligible amount in the early 1990s to around $A500 million by the end of 1995.

Some of Australia's best known firms are already operating successfully in India, while a host of small to medium size Australian companies, like the Cottee Corporation and Jord Engineers, are beginning to make their way in Indian markets.

Importantly, Australian firms are now exporting an increasingly diverse range of sophisticated Australian manufactures and services. These include financial and educational services, environmental technology, computer software, telecommunications and medical technology.

Under our two countries' science and technology agreements, Australia and India are performing important work in waste management, crop viruses and testing for pesticide residues in food.

This record of rising activity is very encouraging, but there is much more to be done. That is why the Government is committed to a sustained effort to realise the full potential of the Australia-India partnership.

New Horizons is the centrepiece of that commitment.

Australia India New Horizons

New Horizons is based on extensive research which showed that a critical impediment to the full development of the India Australia relationship is the outdated perceptions both countries have of each other.

The research suggested 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.

It also showed that compared with decision-makers in East Asia, there are relatively fewer Indian decision makers with a comprehensive or even a limited knowledge of Australia.

Moreover, the research found those surveyed were comfortable with their existing images of Australia and at the moment there is no motivation to reconsider those perceptions.

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 will do this directly .

The program aims to introduce 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.

In addition, it aims to help Australians tap into India's markets and to expose them to India's tremendous cultural vitality, as well as its impressive scientific and technological achievements.

Directed squarely at Indian decision-makers and opinion-leaders, the promotion will feature business, public policy, science, technology, education, cultural and sporting events in six major Indian cities - New Delhi, Bombay or Mumbai as it is now known, Calcutta, Bangalore, Madras and Chandigarh.

The cornerstone of New Horizons will be a three-day Major Business Forum that begins in New Delhi, and then moves to Mumbai. The Business Forum will be particularly focused on the potential in five areas:

- Transport and infrastructure

- Mining, energy and environment management

- Information technology and telecommunications

- Financial services, and

- Export and investment financing.

The Forum is a carefully targeted event bringing 200 Australian business people together with their Indian counterparts to discuss commercial prospects in those sectors.

Our Indian partners are identifying high-level Indian participants, and I am confident it will be the best possible environment for Australian businesses to develop Indian networks.

India's sheer size means that the New Horizons program must move beyond New Delhi and Mumbai.

The Business Forum will be complemented by the New Horizons Doing Business with Australia Program in Bangalore, Calcutta and Madras. This aims to introduce Indian entrepreneurs to the Australian business environment and to show that Australia is a dynamic, productive and secure place for business operations.

Business missions demonstrating specific Australian expertise will visit these cities.

A number of other events will also highlight sectors where Australia has something special to offer India. These include:

. A major education and training conference will be held in New Delhi to tap the tremendous potential in India for Australia's educational services.
. Australia is the partner country for this year's Agrotech agribusiness fair in Chandigarh, where a number of State governments and around 25 Australian companies will be participating.
. An Australian food and wine festival will exhibit Australian meals prepared by leading Australian chefs and served with some of our best wines.
. The Australia-India Council is holding a conference in Bangalore on urban planning, and
. a series of health and medical seminars will be held in Mumbai, Madras and Delhi

I might also add here that the Department has developed a series of cross-cultural briefing kits on specific countries, including India, to help Australian business people appreciate some of the cultural differences they will encounter in the course of conducting business abroad.

The briefing kit is an effective way to promote greater understanding for Australians doing business in India for the first time.

Running parallel with the business promotion, the largest cultural program ever to leave our shores will show another dimension of Australia as a young, vibrant and distinctive society.

It includes such exciting performers as Tap Dogs, Circus Oz, the Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Australian Art Orchestra. In addition, major exhibitions of Australian art will be presented by the Australian National Gallery, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi and the Victorian Tapestry Workshop.

New Horizons also includes a media component so the updated messages about Australia reach a sizeable number of the Indian population. In particular, Australian television material will feature prominently on the Indian national network and on Star TV throughout the promotional period.

Finally, going beyond the New Horizons trade, investment and cultural focus, a major public policy conference will be held in New Delhi in October.

There I will set out there how the Government proposes Australia and India can work together over the next decade. I will be joined by a number of prominent Australians to discuss a range of issues including Indian Ocean regional co-operation and the relationship between Australia, India and East Asia.

Conclusion

To sum up, the New Horizons promotion is a strong pitch for Australia in India.

With some six million dollars of Australian taxpayers money funding the program, I am confident New Horizons will not only prove its worth as Australia's largest overseas promotion ever, but will be a critical step in strengthening Australia's relations with India.

It will also herald the beginning of a renewed emphasis in the development of Australia's relations with the entire South Asian region, starting with next year's Year of South Asia initiative.

Throughout 1997, the Government will devote considerable effort to upgrading ties with all countries in South Asia, recognising the fact that the region's trade and investment opportunities are not limited to India.

The Year of South Asia initiative will include a series of business missions to the region in sectors such as agriculture, mining and education services. South Asia will also be featured at next year's National Trade and Investment Outlook Conference.

The efforts of the Australian Government to improve our relations with India and South Asia more generally will help businesses to gain access to key markets and promote greater trade and investment.

The Australian Government fully recognises it has an important role to play in working with business to make the most of a new phase in our relations with Asia.
In this context, let me commend the Australian business sector's high level of support for New Horizons.

I would like, in particular, to thank the co-presenters of New Horizons:
ANZ-Grindlay's, the largest foreign bank in India, RTZ-CRA, the world's largest mining company, National Mutual, and Qantas.

In addition, I am very pleased to announce today that the Indian giant, the Tata Group, has taken the sole co-presenter berth made available to an Indian company.

A wide range of other Australian and Indian companies have also pledged their support for New Horizons. The Australian Government greatly values the financial commitment that the initiative's co-presenters and its sponsors have made.

I would like to pay tribute to the excellent work undertaken over the years by the NSW Chamber of Commerce.

Your role in helping forge trade and investment links between Australia and India will continue to make an important contribution to our renewed relationship.

Finally, let me re-emphasise that Australia and India are at an historic stage in our relationship, facing mutual opportunities for greater co-operation and stronger links.

To achieve this, Australia needs to take a fresh look at the commercial potential offered by India and to work systematically to convince India of the potential Australia offers as a valuable partner.
The Australian Government believes that the New Horizons initiative will introduce a new era in relations between Australia and the countries of South Asia, and I encourage your full participation.