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Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel pressed for expediting the resolution of the vexed double taxation issue affecting Indian tech firms operating in Australia, during the meeting with the visiting Deputy Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook in New Delhi on Thursday. The resolution of the double taxation issue was agreed under the India-Australia interim trade pact concluded in April. The pact called India Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) is yet to come into effect.
Australia had agreed to amend its domestic regulation pertaining to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) simultaneous to the implementation of the bilateral economic cooperation and bilateral free trade pact. It is expected to come as a major relief for Indian IT firms such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS and HCL, and will help Indian IT companies scale up operations in Australia.
Patel emphasized that the amendment of DTAA regulation was an important issue agreed under the pact. The two sides acknowledged the need to expedite the ratification processes for early Entry into Force of the Ind-Aus ECTA for the mutual benefit of both the economies, in particular, the businesses.
On concerns related to delay in issuance of visas for Indian students, Cook agreed to look into the ways to facilitate early processing and issuance of visas for Indian students pursuing higher studies in Australia and similarly for the tourists, according to the press release by the department of commerce.
The two sides also exchanged views on significant opportunities to strengthen the cooperation between India with Western Australia on a range of issues pertaining to various sectors including education, critical minerals, agriculture, energy, tourism, mining technology etc.
Patel raised market access issues relating to certain commodities such as potato, okra, gherkins, pineapple, onion etc. in Australian market and also on possible technical collaboration for increasing yield for agricultural products in India. The two sides also agreed to work towards having extensive engagement in activities relating to legal mineral mining, extending technical cooperation and expertise sharing and working towards a smooth resilient supply chain.