The India-Australia Economic Cooperation & Trade Agreement (ECTA), approved by Australia’s parliament recently, is expected to unlock millions of dollars of additional trade due to the preferential access accorded to India’s gem and jewellery exports to Australia.
India-Australia has a significant bilateral trade of USD 1.3 billion for gem and jewellery commodities in financial Year 2021-22. Key commodities exported to Australia are plain gold jewellery, studded jewellery, and cut and polished diamonds. The main commodities imported from Australia are precious metals i.e. gold and silver bars.
Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC, said, “Since the India-Australia negotiations started, India’s gem and jewellery exports have seen positive growth, complementing the upcoming India-Australia ECTA. India’s gem and jewellery exports to Australia grew 21% during April – October 2022 as compared to the same period last year.
“We expect Australia to benefit from access to areas where India is a world leader, such as diamonds. By providing preferential access for Indian gems and jewellery exports, the deal also makes it cheaper for Australian retailers to procure world-class jewellery crafted with finesse from Indian manufacturers. We expect the Agreement to boost bilateral gem and jewellery trade from USD 1.3 billion at present to USD 2 billion.
“Australia is one of our large suppliers of gold bullion, and until recently, it was also a key supplier of diamonds.” added Shah.
