Meeting with H E Mr Bob Carr, Hon'ble Premier of New South Wales, Australia
November 1, 2004, New Delhi

Address by H E Mr Bob Carr, Hon'ble Premier of New South Wales, Australia

It's a great honour to address the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, established in 1927 to build support for India's independence and to further the interest of the Indian business community.

I'm happy to say you have succeeded in both aims.

My visit to India to promote trade and investment is part of my Government's continuing effort to build closer business ties.

The NSW Minister responsible for trade visited India 12 months ago.

There were two earlier trade missions in March 2001 and December 2002. Accompanying me on this visit is Neville Roach, chairman of the Australia India Business Council and a member of my Government's Asia Business Advisory Council.

He's clearly someone well-credentialed to champion closer business relations between our two countries.

Well, we've just witnessed the signing of an agreement sealing the first major investment by an Indian IT company in an Australian research organisation, the Smart Internet Technology CRC at Australia's premier technology precinct, the Australian Technology Park in Sydney.

This agreement is a great tribute to Mr Murthy and Infosys, one of the world's great IT firms and to Neville Roach, chairing, as he does, one of Australia's leading IT research organisations.

This agreement reflects the type of cooperation between the Indian software industry and Australian high-end research where the greatest opportunities for mutual benefit lie - and it's exactly the sort of development that brings us here to India this week.

But our ties are not new.

In fact, India played a key role in the survival of New South Wales in the very early years of the colony.

When a supply ship from England heading for New South Wales sank in 1792, the colony faced starvation.

The Governor looked to Kolkata for help; from there a ship set sail for Sydney with all the food and stores it could carry.

New South Wales was soon exporting coal to India, who in return sent goods such as textiles, furnishings, ceramics and toys. By 1840, a ship was leaving New South Wales for India roughly every four days.

More than 160 years on, our trade relationship with India remains healthy.

Two-way merchandise trade between Australia and India is now worth A$5.9 billion, with NSW's share worth $723 million.

And, yes, we are still sending you coal and you are still sending us textiles, so one of our tasks is to diversify and deepen our relationship.

And that change is happening.

For example, Australian food products have begun to appear on Indian supermarket shelves.

And visitors to the Mumbai museum can take an audio tour using state-of-the-art technology developed by a Sydney company.

In addition to merchandise trade, trade in services between Australia and India is growing steadily, reaching A$720 million in 2003.

Information and biotechnology companies services providers and financial institutions now make a significant contribute on to our bilateral export earnings.

Australia is now the second most popular destination for Indian students overseas, with more than 14,000 now studying there most of them in higher education.

This is significant because nothing else generates so much mutual advantage as education - a driver of growth and economic opportunity both within and between countries.

Later this week I will be announcing new initiatives that will open up more educational opportunities between our two countries.

Another area for mutually beneficial collaboration is the film, media and entertainment industry

Bollywood is the world's largest film industry in terms of output.

Your films are popular in NSW - only two months ago Sydney hosted a very popular Bollywood film festival.

NSW is also becoming a preferred destination for your producers of films, television commercials and music videos.

We have the crews, locations and post production facilities that make us very competitive.

Co-production for domestic and international markets would seem a logical extension of the already significant two-way film and media trade.

Tourism is another developing area.

Over the past ten years or so, tourist arrivals from India have been growing at 20 percent a year, reaching about 53,800 in 2003-04.

The Australian Tourist Commission predicts that tourists from India will increase to more than 147,000 by 2012.

As these examples show, we have a great deal to offer each other and the future potential for Australia-India trade is very exciting indeed.

Already, India is New South Wales' 14th biggest export market and we believe India could rank among our top ten most important trading relationships in the foreseeable future.

India, after more than a decade of economic reforms, is experiencing the world's second-fastest growth rates (after China).

It is predicted that India will become an economic giant in the global economy.

Standard and Poors has forecast that India will sustain at least six per cent growth for three to five years.

Let me tell you a little more about the advantages we have in NSW as a market and a business location in the Asia-Pacific.

Australia might have only 20 million people but we have a GDP larger than that of Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore.

The State of New South Wales has the largest and most diverse economy in Australia.

The capital of New South Wales, Sydney, is the business hub of our nation and a leading financial centre in the Asia Pacific.

NSW has a Gross State Product larger than the GDP of all countries in South-East Asia, with the exception of Indonesia.

Sydney has about the same size economy, population and workforce as Singapore.

We continues to enjoy triple-A credit rating from both Standard and Poor's and Moody's, reflecting our strong financial position and capacity to withstand changing economic circumstances.

The Australian Stock Exchange is based in Sydney. It is the first major market to open each day and is the ninth largest in the world.

Indian companies looking to do business in Australia will find in NSW excellent infrastructure, efficient transport and communication links and a highly skilled, multilingual workforce.

The ethnic and linguistic diversity of New South Wales is a valuable resource that provides distinct business advantages.

In the 2001 census, almost one-and-a-half million New South Wales residents, or just under one-quarter of the State's population, said they were born overseas.

More languages are spoken in New South Wales than in any other part of the Asia Pacific.

The census showed that almost 1.2 million people spoke a language other than English at home. Ninety-one per cent of these people were in Sydney.

New South Wales has particular strengths in Asian languages.

This vibrant mix of culture and languages positions New South Wales at the forefront of the Asia Pacific for its ability to provide a large, diverse, well-educated and multilingual workforce.

Our workforce is well educated. Fifty-seven per cent of employees in New South Wales hold tertiary qualifications.

Sydney has the nation's largest concentration of managers, professionals, associate professionals and skilled clerical and service workers of all Australian cities.

Sydney also offers a low-cost environment in which to do business.

Office and industrial rents in Sydney have remained relatively stable, despite strong economic growth.

Australia has a large and sophisticated ICT market. In 2002-03, the volume of information technology investment by Australia's market sector reached A$17 billion.

Australia has a mature internet market, and ranks third in the world in terms of Internet penetration rates, with broadband access surging.

Banking is also centred in Sydney. Of the 53 authorised banks with operations in Australia, 40 are based in Sydney. This includes nine of the 11 foreign subsidiary banks in Australia and the 10 largest investment banking groups.

Australia's infrastructure is world class, a significant achievement considering the vast size of the continent and its distance from overseas markets.

Australia has been ranked in the top 10 countries for port and airport infrastructure and for infrastructure quality in general.

Many international companies have already chosen New South Wales as their Australian headquarters location. Almost three in every five of the top 500 foreign companies in Australia have based their Australian operations in NSW.

NSW is also home to many Asia Pacific regional headquarters and regional service centres. By January this year the number was almost 600.

In other words, New South Wales is an excellent choice for business.

And of course, our environment and lifestyle are renowned.

Sydney is a beautiful harbour city frequently chosen by leading international travel publications as the world's best city for travellers.

Thank you for the opportunity to give you a brief overview of NSW.

I hope that we may have the pleasure of welcoming you to New South Wales in the not too distant future.

In fact, I am advised your Indian High Commissioner and Consul-General in Australia are organising a major "Celebrating India" event in Sydney in June 2005.

The NSW Government is happy to extend its full support, and I am happy that a FICCI delegation will participate in the business component of this event.

We look forward to giving you the same warm reception in Sydney you've given us here.

Thank you.