India, Australia To Explore Talks On Digital Services Trade

In a bid to shore up bilateral trade, Australia is reportedly looking at India to sign a digital services pact as part of the larger Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

“Next on the agenda is the comprehensive economic and trade agreement, and one of the things that we explore is digital services,” Australia’s Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts said.

He further added, “We think that digital trade is a real worthwhile agenda because it is not just data, but it underpins all trade. So, we can better facilitate trade across the board.”

Australia purportedly appears to be pushing for improved access for service suppliers and modern investor protections, alongside appropriate safeguards for governments’ rights to regulate. 

According to a report commissioned by the Australian government, the two sides could see convergence in domains such as automation, artificial intelligence, edtech and the services sector. 

This comes amidst growing bonhomie between the two countries. As a result, the two sides have inked a slew of agreements including the recent six MoUs signed between the Indian Space Agency (ISRO) and Australian Space Agency (ASA) to develop and grow space technology markets in both countries. 

In April, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, while visiting Australia, called for ramping up investments and strengthening economic ties with Australian companies, especially startups. 

This is largely attributed to India being a huge developer and market for digital products. Australian startups such as online graphic designing platforms Canva and Prospa have a good following in India while Indian-Australian entrepreneurs have gone on to create brands such as packaged tea seller Chai Walli and insurtech startup Upcover. 

India’s Global Push 

The Indian government has been partnering with many other countries to spur the homegrown startup ecosystem. This was evident earlier this year when Union Minister Piyush Goyal affirmed that India aspires to become the largest startup ecosystem in the world. 

In May, FICCI’s startup incubator inked a pact with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) to launch the India-UAE Start-Up Corridor. Before that, a $150-Mn India-UAE venture capital fund was also launched on the sidelines of Dubai EXPO2020 to fuel the growth of startups in the two countries. 

Besides, India is also collaborating with Germany to advance artificial intelligence (AI)-based startups and research. Both countries are also working together in domains such as electric mobility, quantum technologies, green hydrogen fuel and others. 

In November last year, India and Israel signed a pact to spur innovation and speed up the development of dual-use technologies by small and medium-sized enterprises in both nations. 

Back in 2018, India and Canada had also signed a bilateral agreement to provide market access for startups from both countries. On similar lines, the UK-India Startup Launchpad was unveiled back in 2019 which has been envisaged to spur startups in both countries.