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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-01 Daily Xml
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TRADE MISSION, INDIA

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:59): Will the Premier inform the house about the success of his fourth trade mission to India?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (15:59): Last week I returned to Adelaide after leading my fourth trade and investment mission to India since taking office. On this mission I was accompanied by the national Chairman of the Australia India Business Council, Mr Brian Hayes QC; as well as representatives from our four universities, TAFE SA, the environmental waste management industry and our state's wine and food industries, in addition to consultants and lawyers acting on behalf of engineering and other companies.

Members would be aware of the South Australian companies involved in the construction of the new airport at New Delhi. India continues to emerge as an economic giant, and no other state in Australia has put in a bigger effort to forge and maintain relationships with India than South Australia. On this mission, we returned to New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai to promote South Australia as an educational capital of Australia, as a first choice destination for business and to attract skilled migrants and investment to our state.

Mr Venning interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Yes. However, we are not content with our current successes in India and we continue to explore new trade and investment opportunities in new locations. On this mission, whereas on previous occasions I visited Bangalore (which, of course, is the IT capital), we included Hyderabad in our itinerary for the first time where we were warmly received by members of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Commerce and Industry. Hyderabad is an important seat of learning in southern India and, I am told, has the most educational institutions in India.

I was therefore delighted to join UniSA in witnessing their signing of a MOU with ICFAI University about its intention to establish a campus in Adelaide. I should say that I believe that India was neglected as a destination for students. As members know, we put in a massive effort to get tourists to come here, but increasingly education has become a major export focus for our state. In fact, we have seen a massive increase in the number of students from overseas since this government came to office. Indeed, enrolments of Indian students at our tertiary institutions have now (I am told) increased tenfold over the past five years and jumped a remarkable 70 per cent in the past two years.

Part of my role on these missions, joining with the universities and with TAFE, is to promote South Australia as an education destination. We hold seminars, press conferences and obviously enter into alliances with universities and other educational organisations in India. To put that into perspective, last year, Indian students contributed $75 million to the international education industry in South Australia. By 2010, this is estimated to increase to approximately $104 million. Persistence pays off—a tenfold increase in Indian students since we have been going to India.

South Australian universities are developing and growing their key alliances with prestigious Indian universities and companies, and MOUs were signed with several major institutions in all four cities visited. TAFE SA signed an MOU with the Indian company Career Point, which is expected to see 1,000 plus students in the retailing courses alone in the first 12 months. Career Point has a headquarters in Rajasthan.

Overall, South Australia is gaining massive publicity in India. We are trying to encourage not only more migrants, more business investment and more students but also more tourists to come. I have to say that, during the mission, I think I delivered around about 19 speeches to trade and government groups, met with three chief ministers and also with union ministers. That means ministers such as the Minister for Finance in the national government, the Minister for Commerce in the national government and the Minister for Civil Aviation. We want to see more direct flights. We want to see direct flights by Indian airlines into Australia.

Of course, one of the things that I was particularly keen to do was to encourage changes to Indian tariffs which currently provides a massive tariff barrier to the export of wine. We received some assurances on that front. In Chennai, the capital of our sister state, Tamil Nadu (which has a population of over 50 million), members of the South Australian delegation participated in a cricket match between the Chief Minister's XI and the Premier's XI, which members would be pleased to know that I captained, even though I went out for a duck. Again, approximately 2,000 locals turned out to cheer on the Chief Minister's side and the match was beamed out (I am told) live on television and reported on the front page of local newspapers and television and radio for some days.

In Mumbai, I attended the trailer launch of the Bollywood movie filmed in South Australia in 2006, Love Story 2050, directed by Harry Baweja and starring former Miss World Priyanka Chopra, who, I must say, is an outstanding advocate for South Australia. It is interesting. There was great vision in the film of Kangaroo Island, Remarkable Rocks and Adelaide, with great Bollywood dancing scenes. I believe Lake Eyre was one of the scenes, and also our Outback, as well as the Adelaide Hills, with an all-star cast. We are obviously keen to attract other film companies to come here to do post-production work. I understand that there is a significant post-production contract with Rising Sun Pictures in Adelaide for Love Story 2050. I understand that Rising Sun has worked on Superman, Harry Potter and a range of other films—Charlotte's Web and Lord of the Rings and others.

So, that is the kind of publicity that will come when the movie is seen. I am told that 100 media, including over 30 television cameras, attended the launch of a trailer, basically giving us an opportunity to be seen. But I hope that, when the film comes out, it will be seen by many hundreds of millions of people and, again, will put our state up in lights. That is the sort of publicity that money cannot buy. Interestingly, I turned on the television the next morning and, before seeing other vision that was happening in South Australia, there was an edited highlights package of the Tour Down Under, which I think went for about an hour and which featured fantastic South Australian scenery.

As I mentioned, the increase in migrants and students from India and the ever-increasing publicity the state is currently receiving in India will bring increased numbers in tourism. As I mentioned, I was delighted to receive a good hearing from India's civil aviation minister and Air India about the possibility of direct flights to Adelaide—and I am looking forward to welcoming that minister to Australia

Several delegates from the private sector have already achieved positive outcomes from the trade mission. Wine companies met with importers and food and beverage buyers in New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai, and South Australian wines were showcased at a number of key industry functions.

As I have mentioned, we talked to the commerce minister about lifting the 150 per cent tariff on wine exports and ongoing negotiations regarding an Australia-India free trade agreement, which will help our state's wine industry expand its burgeoning market.

I should say that, while we were there, one company we had met with on previous visits (the Indage Group) announced the purchase of major wine industry wineries in South Australia and elsewhere totalling $60 million. That company told me that it intended to become the No. 3 player in the Australian wine industry and that it will be opening many hundreds (I think 500 was mentioned) of wine centres throughout India, featuring Indian wines and South Australian wines, and so on.

In Chennai, South Australia was able to showcase its leadership on environmental issues. I was pleased to witness the signing of a joint venture partnership between Biobin, a waste management company specialising in environmentally friendly solutions, and a major Indian company.

David Crotti from San Remo joined the trade mission to develop export markets for that company's pasta products. That company is now selling more pasta in Singapore than anywhere else. Meetings were held with major Indian companies, such as Tata Sons and GMR, to discuss potential investment in the minerals and resources industries in South Australia and to promote the manufacturing opportunities at the Mitsubishi Tonsley site. Members would be aware that, following our previous missions, Reliance has been down here, signing joint ventures with Santos and also with a uranium exploration company.

I am delighted to have led another delegation to India. I encourage all members on both sides of the house to help with this push into India. But, certainly, on this mission, I think we achieved considerable critical mass.

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