More ties in education

Under the Victoria India Strategy (launched in January 2018) the Victorian government has set its trade and investment targets as per which education remains the primary focus.

Delivering a briefing about the Victorian government’s targets and activities, Michelle Wade, appointed last year as the Victorian Commissioner for South Asia (Trade), said, “Our team in Bangalore is currently performing audits on Victoria’s investments in India. We have concluded that South Asia is a significant source of international students and India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal make up four of Victoria’s top ten source markets. For trade, it’s easy to think about India as a massive emerging middle class.”

Wade was speaking at an Australia India Business Council (AIBC) event, addressing the audience live via video, from her head office at Bangalore.

The inaugural event under the ‘Doing Business with India’ series, it was attended largely by entrepreneurs and AIBC members, organised in collaboration with Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Victorian government.

Ms Wade spoke about the government’s upcoming initiative of an exchange program for students in Years 8 and 9. “We are identifying a large number of schools from both ends. We are also working on a teacher’s exchange program of a similar nature, the first of its kind.”

The long-term vision behind this step was clear.

“To do business in India we have to understand each other better and we have decided to strengthen the relationship beginning at the school level,” Ms Wade said.

Wade also talked about the government’s plan to increase the number of direct flights between the two countries.

She said, “We’re working with our colleagues from Invest Victoria to increase direct flight links, as we believe the route is extremely under-served. However, this isn’t something that gets resolved quickly – you need to work with airlines several years in advance, but more direct flight routes from locations outside Delhi have the potential to transform our bilateral relationship.”

From Wade’s speech it was evident that, under the current strategy, the Victorian government does not see much potential in Indian’s health sector. She said, “As per our observation, the average money an Indian