Canberra: Australia is focusing on signing agreements with India and the European Union after inking four trade pacts in the past two years, Trade Minister Andrew Robb said.
A trade and investment agreement with India is the first priority, Robb said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Hong Kong Thursday. The EU has agreed to initial talks on a free-trade agreement, he said.
“India doesn’t need cheap lettuces at the moment, it needs our expertise,” Robb said, adding that talks with the nation were well advanced. He said he’d held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants to gain access to Australia’s skills training and education, and services involving health, engineering and water management.
Robb, 64, is setting his sights on new trade deals after helming successful negotiations on behalf of the world’s 12th- largest economy by signing free-trade agreements with its three biggest trading partners — China, Japan and South Korea. Australia is also one of a dozen countries that agreed on October 6 to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, linking nations with almost $30 trillion (Dh110 trillion) in economic output, accounting for about 40 per cent of the global economy.
Foreign direct investment
The European Commission has confirmed it will seek authorisation from the European Union’s 28 member countries to negotiate an FTA with Australia, Robb said. The EU is responsible for nearly a quarter of foreign direct investment into Australia, which was worth A$959 billion ($705 billion) in 2014, with two-way trade of about A$80 billion, he said.
“There will be a big investment component” in an FTA with the EU, Robb said. “In things like high-end manufacturing in the global supply chains, Australia’s very competitive. We’re a knowledge-based economy; that will be reflected in that EU agreement.”
Robb will also helm a delegation of several hundred Australian business people next month to Indonesia, where the nation needs a bigger commercial presence, he said. The Chinese FTA should be legislated in Australia’s parliament by the end of the year, he said.
