Forging stronger links with India
India continues its emergence as a priority market for Australia and across education, business and government we continue to develop and refine strategies for effective long-term engagement.
The Australia-India Business Exchange (AIBX) in late February, was a timely example of the commitment of industry and government to broaden and deepen our commercial relationship.
In what was Australia’s largest official business delegation to India of the past four years, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham, led representatives from more than 100 businesses spanning education, tourism, agribusiness, premium products, resources and infrastructure.
These areas of focus were informed by Australia’s landmark India Economic Strategy to 2035 (IES) which was developed by Peter Varghese AO, the former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the current Chancellor of the University of Queensland.
Asialink Business CEO, Mukund Narayanamurti, who served on Peter Varghese’s Reference Group which helped develop the strategy, participated in the education stream of AIBX, delivering a keynote address at the opening session in New Delhi.
At the practical level, AIBX showcased potential opportunities for Australia in the world’s fastest growing large economy.
India is set to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2035 and surpass China as the most populous. By 2035, India’s five largest cities will have economies of comparable size to middle income countries today.
Our total trade with India in goods and services currently represents less than four per cent of our international two-way trade, placing it well behind China, Japan and South Korea.
In targeting opportunities, it is worth exploring high-growth sectors of the Indian economy that have synergies with Australian strengths and capability.
The sectors prioritised during AIBX were all high-growth and present very real prospects for Australian organisations to both strengthen existing relationships and forge new partnerships and collaborations.
The IES identified 10 sectors of the Indian market where Australia has competitive advantages and of these, no sector is considered to hold more promise than education, which is considered our ‘flagship’ sector.
With the rise of India’s working and consumer classes, the demand for quality education and training is expanding exponentially. In 2026, the 18-22-year-old demographic will peak at 126 million. A call to respond was made in 2015, when the Indian Government set itself the challenge of upskilling 400 million people by 2022, as part of its Skills India campaign.
As a world-class education provider, Australia has already achieved many successes in the Indian market across secondary, tertiary and vocational training. But there is scope to take this to a new level.
By engaging meaningfully with India and by taking a long-term view, Australian organisations can become more diverse and sustainable.
Read the analysis of the opportunities with India by Shiraz Engineer.