Australia to reopen its permanent consulate in Kolkata
Kolkata, Sep 20 (IBNS): Nearly thirty years after the closure, Australian Deputy High Commissioner to India, Rod Hilton, on Thursday said that a permanent Aussie consulate will be reopened in Kolkata by January next year.
While discussing the future of Indo-Australia bilateral trade and the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between two countries at Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) premise in Kolkata, the diplomat announced the establishment of the fourth permanent Aussie consulate in Kolkata, after New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
"We have decided to reopen a permanent Australian consulate in Kolkata, which was shut down decades ago, as West Bengal is one of the priority states for Australia where our country is looking forward to multiply its investments by 2025," Rod Hilton said.
"Kolkata is one of the top ten Asian cities with an annual economic growth of more than six per cent and 28 of the total 43 Aussie companies, which are growing in India, are currently active in Kolkata and West Bengal," the diplomat added.
Rod Hilton said that West Bengal had received only one per cent of Australia's investment of around 10.3 billion USD into India in 2017.
"There is a huge scope to enhance Australia's investment into Bengal in next few years," Hilton said.
The senior Australian diplomat said that his country was interested in investing in education, mining, infrastructure, tourism and resources sectors in the state.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
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