Australia keen to invest in R&D, defence, infra space

NEW DELHI: Australian businesses are keen to invest in the Indian R&D space and are focussing on sectors including defence, infrastructure and mining, the country's Trade Commissioner Grayson Perry said today.

"The area of innovation and R&D (research and development) is something we can better engage with Indian corporates on. We are focusing on the defence, infrastructure, specifically construction technology, we are working in heavy rail and metro space at the moment...and mining," Perry said at a CII event here.

Two-way trade has grown in value from $ 3.3 billion in 2000 to over $ 17.4 billion in 2012. According to Perry, the two-way trade between India and Australia was around $ 20 billion in 2013.

Industry body CII and the Australian Industry & Defence Network Incorporated (AIDN) today signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in defence, aerospace and homeland security.