Australia is hoping that the increased air connectivity between South India and the country will improve the business and investment opportunities in the region.
Speaking to businessline on the side-lines of the Invest Kerala Global Summit in Kochi on Saturday, Australian Consul General in Chennai Silai Zaki said the major Indian and Australian airlines are looking at the opportunities in the sector. The Indian carriers Indigo and Air India are likely to commence services from South India soon, she said.
Zaki also welcomed the decision of the Kerala Government to open up the higher education sector to private and foreign investments. On the possibility of Australian Universities setting up campuses in Kerala, she said it would largely depend on the kind of incentives offered by the government.
She cited the example of one of the Australian Universities setting up a campus in the Gift City in Gujarat. She said a few Australian universities are already having twinning programmes with the University of Kerala, the Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala Agriculture University and Rajagiri Group of Universities.
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Australia, a country partner in the summit, is represented by a 40-member delegation in the two-day Invest Kerala Global Summit.
Zaki said that renewable energy, education, R&D, innovation and food processing technology are some of the sectors for investments in Kerala. The discussions are in the initial stages and it would take some more time to reach a concrete shape, she added.
She also stated that many students from Kerala opting for higher education in Australian universities settle down there with high paying jobs. Some of the students from Kerala are coming back and setting up enterprises in the State, she added.
