AUSTRALIA-INDIA COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC COOPERATION AGREEMENT
Friday, February 12, 2016
About the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiations
Recent years have seen remarkable growth in the trading relationship between India and Australia, fuelled by the many complementarities between the two economies. Two-way trade in goods and services has grown in value from $6.8 billion in FY2003-04 to $14.8 billion in FY2013-14.
India is the world's largest democracy and is a market of 1.2 billion people. Its youthful population, diversified economy and growth trajectory present significant opportunity for Australian business, especially in the agriculture, energy, manufacturing, mining and services sectors.
Negotiations to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between Australia and India were launched in May 2011. There have been eight rounds of negotiations, the most recent of which was held in July 2015.
During official visits to India and Australia in September and November 2014 respectively, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi renewed both countries' commitment for an early conclusion of an equitable, balanced, comprehensive and high quality agreement.
The Department is seeking public submissions on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiations.
Key interests and benefits:
•A comprehensive agreement would assist in broadening the base of merchandise trade by addressing tariff barriers and behind the border restrictions on trade in goods.
•There is significant potential to expand trade in services between India and Australia. An FTA could facilitate growth in services trade by reducing barriers faced by Australian service suppliers and by increasing regulatory transparency.
•An FTA could facilitate and encourage investment by reducing barriers, increasing transparency and enhancing investment protections.
For business
Visit our extensive India country guide to learn more about how to do business in India, and the opportunities available.
Austrade has identified potential opportunities for Australian suppliers of goods and services in a number of sectors. Austrade's India country page supplies general information on doing business and on specific export opportunities. The Austrade website has a database that can be searched by industry.
Contact us
Requests for information, advice or comments on the free trade agreement should be addressed to:
David Simmons@lochm.com.au or Tel: 9009 5200 / 1300 0 56246
Source:DFAT
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