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It is an honour to be here representing the Australian Government - as Minister for Resources and Energy - at the invitation of the Confederation of Indian Industries.
And it's a pleasure to participate in India's largest mining exhibition and conference - the International Mining and Machinery Exhibition organised by the Confederation in association with the Indian Government's Ministries of Mines and Coal.
Australia is proud to be the focus country for this Ninth exhibition and I am pleased to see we are represented by around 50 organisations and 30 exhibits.
The relationship between India and Australia is very important to the Australian Government and the Australian community on many fronts.
We share different versions of a British colonial history - which not only gave us our democratic and legal traditions, but our shared love of cricket.
Cricket played between India and Australia is always great sport and with one more test to go I am sure this series will be no different.
Over the past decade, commerce and trade has become an increasingly important part of our relationship.
Last year, the size of the Indian economy exceeded US$1 trillion and some economists predict it will be the world's third largest economy by 2025.
For the past several years, it has been growing at 8 to 9 per cent annually.
Australia has benefited immensely from this growth with India now our 10th largest trading partner.
Two way trade between our countries was more than $13 billion in 2007.
India is now Australia's fourth largest export market for coal and our second largest coking coal market.
India imported $2.4 billion of Australian coal for India's vital steel-making industry.
Metals are also important with India importing more than A$1 billion worth of Australian copper ores last year (2007).
Of course, our biggest export to India is gold - worth more than $4 billion in 2007.
Wearing my other hat as Minister for Tourism, let me also say that India is a very important tourism market for Australia.
Nearly 108,000 Indian tourists visited Australia in 2006-2007, an increase of more than 20 per cent over just one year.
We hope that trend continues - whether it be for pleasure, sport or business.
I might also say that the Indian travel experience remains - as it has been for decades - a rich and important rite of passage for many young Australians.
Those of you here today, however, know how important mining is to both our countries as the generator of wealth that underpins economic growth and the expansion of the services sectors.
Both countries are rich mineral provinces with enormous wealth still to be unlocked.
Australia's mineral inventory has been built by successful exploration over more than 100 years.
Despite its rich record of discovery of mineral resources, numerous terrains in Australia remain under-explored and there are clearly opportunities for further significant discoveries.
I am pleased to say that the Australian and our State and Territory Governments - under the banner of the Australian Governments' Geoscience Group - have an exhibition here today at the Trade Show in Hall 3.
The possibilities are exciting and I would encourage you to find out more about them.
Senior officials from both my Department and from the State and Territory mines and geoscience agencies are here to help you and tell you about Australian investment opportunities.
Such a substantial Australian presence here reinforces our commitment to an Indian-Australian trade, technology and investment partnership in the resources and energy sector.
Australia is a global top five producer of iron ore, coal, bauxite and alumina, uranium, LNG, diamonds and gold, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, mineral sands and tantalum.
However, India is of course also a world-class mineral province.
It produces about 87 different minerals and its mining industry has enormous potential for further development.
Indian and Australian investors are beginning to seize opportunities in our respective markets.
Australian investment in India was worth over $2 billion in 2006, including in manufacturing, telecommunications and minerals processing.
Australian household names such as Rio Tinto, BHP and Santos are investing in India's mining industry along with a host of smaller companies such as Arrow Energy and India Resources.
Likewise, Indian companies are now investing in Australian resources.
They include India's largest company, Reliance Industries, as well as ArcelorMittal, Bhushan Steel, and Gujarat NRE, a significant coal producer, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange last year.
Burrup Fertilisers' A$700 million development of the world's largest greenfield ammonia plant in Western Australia is also the largest ever Indian investment in Australia.
The Australia-India relationship in mining has a number of different elements:
- Australia wants to continue to be a reliable supplier of commodities to India to support its industrial and infrastructure development.
- We want to invest in the development of India's mining industry to help unlock its wealth for the Indian nation and we will continue to welcome Indian investment in our own resources and energy sector.
- The Australian mining services and technology sector wants to offer its world-leading products and services to the Indian mining industry to help improve exploration success, mine safety, environmental management and the efficiency of resource extraction.
- And we want to continue our international engagement on issues such as energy security and climate change, including carbon capture and storage technology, hydrogen and fuel cell technology, renewable technology and more efficient industrial processes.
These elements are the building blocks for a strong and enduring Australian-Indian partnership in resources and energy for the 21st century - Asia's century.
Australia sees India at the heart of what is an historic shift in political and economic influence.
Our future is linked to that of India and our other Asian neighbours - and our economic growth will be powered by their growth.
But there is more than an economic relationship between our countries.
There are more than ties of language and parliamentary democracy and respect for the rule of law. We have profound values and interests in common.
We are both members of, and cooperate closely in, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit.
India is not so far a member of APEC, although Australia's strong view is that India should become a member when the membership moratorium ends in 2010.
Both our nations have been major contributors to the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations.
India has a vital contribution to make as a serious and positive force in Asia's future.
Australia strongly believes that India, with its firm commitment to multilateralism, should have a permanent seat on a reformed United Nations Security Council.
Australia and India are both committed to addressing the critical challenge of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.
India shares our ultimate objective of nuclear disarmament and has a strong record on non-proliferation.
Indian participation in the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament would of course be of great assistance.
Notwithstanding this, the Australian Government's policy not to supply uranium to non-Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty parties is long-standing and well-known.
The important point to note, however, is that Australia's relationship with India goes far beyond this issue.
Our cultural, commerce and trade, sporting, diplomatic, and other relations with India are greatly benefiting our society and our economy.
The Indian community in Australia is the ninth largest ethnic group in Australia, at over 230,000.
India is now the largest source of skilled migrants to Australia.
Australia is also the second favourite destination for Indian students with over 50,000 enrolments last year.
I hope that our two countries will continue to forge such strong and broad ties.
And may we continue to argue about cricket for a long time to come.
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to participate in the opening session of IMME 2008 and I wish you every success for the exhibition and conference.
Thank you.
NOTE: This speech contains exerts from a speech delivered by Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith MP, on 20 June, 2008.