Friday, May 20 2005 13:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Melbourne: With a view to capitalise on the growing presence of Indian IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro, Australian State of Victoria is seeking greater trade and investment relationship with India.

"There is immense scope to further the trade, investment and technological exchange ties in various sectors like ICT, biotechnology, environment technology, advanced technologies, food and beverages," Victoria's ICT Minister Marsha Thompson said in her keynote address at the Australia-India Joint Business Council interaction in Melbourne.

About 15 top IT companies including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam already have their base in Australia and this relationship could be enhanced further, she said.

Victoria also had a good base of ICT companies and with such complementarities the two sides could together have a lot to offer the world, she added.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath lamented at the abysmally low Australian investments into India and sought to reverse the trend.

"Indian investment into Australia is much more than Australian investment into India. And it was time for Indian investments in Melbourne to drive Australian investment into the country (India)," he said.

Citing the AT Kearney report, he said India had emerged as the third most attractive investment destination in the world and was following one of the most liberal foreign investment policies globally.

"In FDI, we are looking for investment, which will create employment and not just replace Indian capital," he added.