“Seventy thousand Australians of Indian origin live in Australia. That doesn't sound much in Indian scale but it is 3% of Australian population. The shared interests, shared vision and people to people ties and trade is just a fraction of what it could be,” said Michael Costa, Australian Deputy Consul General for South India, at an event organised to involve the Australian alumni in Chennai on Thursday.
Speaking on the topic 'Role for Australian alumni in implementing - An India economic strategy to 2035: Navigating potential to delivery', Mr. Costa said, “Given India's population, size and economy and Australia's expertise, we should be doing much more. We are trying to achieve a greater and broader economic partnership by exploring new avenues.”
Ravin Mirchandani, Chairman, Ador Powerton Ltd, said, “We are in a time when liberalism is under threat. Democracy and traditional capitalism seem broken... The two countries have ignored each other and we have left it to people-to-people links. Australia needs India and India needs Australia today for economic reasons.”
Sanjay Cherian, vice-president, Frontier Lifeline Hospital, said, “It is important to try and leverage each other's potential. Most people are under the wrong impression that India doesn't have high-end infrastructure for undertaking clinical research. One of the biggest challenges Australia faces today is in terms of testing these products (pharmaceutical or medical devices) in animals before human clinical trials. This is one area where India can support Australia.”
Lakshmi Venugopal, Project Co-ordinator, Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants, said that while she was fighting against the system in India, she was a part of the system in Australia whilst she was there.
