“Doing Business with Australia” Seminar held in Chandigarh focuses on potential for Australian partnership with businesses in Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh
The Australian Trade Commission, the Australian trade and investment development agency of the Australian federal government established their formal presence in Chandigarh. Australian Trade Commission’s formal presence in Chandigarh was announced at the seminar on "Doing Business with Australia" held in Chandigarh on Thursday, April 22, 2010.
Organised by the Australian Trade Commission in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry - Northern Region, the seminar is a part of the Australian Trade Commission’s Utsav Australia (Celebrate Australia) programme – an Australian Government initiative to accelerate Australia’s commercial engagement with India and raise awareness of Australian industry capability amongst the Indian business community.
The seminar showcased the potential business & investment opportunities with Australia in sourcing Australian technology, products and services; investing in Australia and potential joint venture partnership and investments. The seminar specifically highlighted Australian expertise in food & beverage; hospitality; infrastructure, building & construction; clean energy, mining & resources; agribusiness & education and the value-add of Australian companies to businesses in Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh.
Speaking at the seminar, Michael Carter, Trade Commissioner, Australian Trade Commission, said “Northern India is a very significant business destination for Australian companies. Chandigarh presents Australian companies a gateway to the states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to offer Australian expertise and explore partnership opportunities with Indian companies. Australia can provide value-added competitive solutions and expertise both in traditional and emerging sectors for businesses in Northern India”.
“Sectors of potential Australian involvement in Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh include food & beverage; hospitality; infrastructure, building & construction; clean energy, mining & resources; agribusiness & education. The Australian Trade Commission also welcomes businesses and entrepreneurs from the northern India to invest in Australia", said Michael Carter.
According to Mr Nitin Peshawaria, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council "The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is happy to partner with the Australian Trade Commission to organise this Seminar. We look forward to working closely with Australia in realising the potential that exists for two way trade and investments and strategic partnerships for the benefit of both. This seminar and more significantly the establishment of a formal presence by the Australian Trade Commission is a very important step to opening up potential areas of cooperation between Northern Indian states and Australia”.
The Seminar also showcased specific business & investment opportunities in the state of Queensland in infrastructure, building & construction; clean energy, mining & resources, food & agribusiness and education. Queensland is rapidly growing its commercial engagement with India and India is currently Queensland’s second largest export market. Queensland currently accounts for 43% of Australia’s merchandise trade with India. An increasing number of Queensland exporters are securing business in construction, green building, mining technologies & services, education & training, tourism, aviation and biotechnology.
The event marked the launch of VB beer in Northern India. Australia’s highest selling iconic beer brand – Victoria Bitter, also known as ‘VB’ is brewed by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Foster s Group. New Delhi based ‘Pearls Wines’, a division of PGF Limited, is importing & distributing VB beer in India. VB will be available in 375 ml bottles and cans across Northern India (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh). According to Mr Rikhab Jain, General Manager, Pearls Wines, “The Indian beer industry has been growing at approx 14 to 15% per annum over the last 10 years and the beer market is expected to grow from 1225 million litres in 2008 to 2017 million litres in 2013, translating into a US$ 5.7 billion beer market. The growth in the beer market has encouraged us to partner with Foster’s Group to launch and distribute VB in India. We have set ourselves a target of one lakh cases in the next one year and we aim to have a 12% market share of India’s beer market for VB by 2012 and 26% market share by 2014”.
Doing Business with Australia and Australian Presence in Chandigarh
Australian technology, expertise and solutions is on offer for Indian businesses in the areas of resources, mining and energy; infrastructure; building and construction; food and beverage; agri-business; wines; automotive; health; defence & security; aviation & aerospace; clean energy; green buildings; education; ICT; film, media and entertainment; sports; retail and financial services.
Australia can be the ideal investment destination for Indian organisations seeking international expansion to, secure access to natural resources (coal, gas and mineral deposits) and create assets (technologies, brand names and distribution networks). Australia is amongst the most significant investment destination for India. In 2009-10, the Australian Trade Commission facilitated more than A$ 700 million investments from Indian into Australia in the tourism, hospitality, mining, aviation, ICT and education sectors.
The Australian Trade Commission will assist Indian corporations to source products, technology, services and solutions from Australia; identify potential Australian business partners and explore investment opportunities in Australia. The Australian Trade Commission has appointed a dedicated staff in Chandigarh. Mr Ankur Bhatia, Business Development Manager, Australian Trade Commission, based in Chandigarh will be responsible for facilitating trade & investment between Australia and the Northern Indian states of Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
For more information on accessing Australian expertise and locating Australian partners, please contact Mr Ankur Bhatia at +91 98100 58660; email to ankur.bhaita@austrade.gov.au; utsavaustralia@austrade.gov.au or visit www.utsavaustralia.in