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The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) completes two years of remarkable success, driving mutual growth and showcasing the complementarity of both economies, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stated in a release on Sunday. The Ind-Aus ECTA has significantly advanced trade ties, creating new opportunities for MSMEs, businesses and employment in both nations while reinforcing the foundation of their economic partnership.
Entering its third year, the Government of India is dedicated to sustaining this momentum through strengthened collaboration and innovative initiatives to drive mutual prosperity to realise the vision 2047 of Hon'ble Prime Minister to make India a developed country. Since its signing, bilateral merchandise trade has more than doubled, surging from USD 12.2 billion in 2020-21 to USD 26 billion in 2022-23. Total trade, however, moderated in the year 2023-24 to USD 24 billion in 2023-24, with India's exports to Australia growing by 14 per cent. The current fiscal year continues to reflect strong momentum. Total merchandise bilateral trade from April-November 2024 reached USD 16.3 billion. Exchange of preferential import data has commenced between both countries, highlighting the effective implementation of the agreement in 2023. The data reveals export utilization at 79 per cent and import utilization at 84 per cent. Key sectors like textiles, chemicals, and agriculture have shown substantial growth, while exports on new lines, including gold studded with diamonds and turbojets highlight the diversification enabled by the agreement. Imports of essential raw materials, such as metalliferous ores, cotton, wood and wood products have fuelled India's industries, contributing to the win-win nature of this partnership.Sectors such as electronics and engineering have room for growth. Building upon this success, the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) is now in progress with 10 formal rounds and inter-sessional discussions held so far. CECA builds on the foundation laid by the ECTA, advancing the bilateral trade agenda with even greater ambition. A stocktake visit on India-Australia CECA was also recently concluded in New Delhi from 4th to 6th December 2024 to assess the progress made and chart the path forward. Both the parties are committed to building on the momentum created by the ECTA, driving deeper economic integration and to achieve the target of trade to reach USD 100 billion by 2030 between India and Australia. Together, India and Australia are poised to take their economic partnership to new heights, fostering mutual prosperity and contributing to a more resilient and dynamic global economy. (ANI)
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