This series brings to you conversations with stakeholders dedicated to the India-Australia bilateral space. In this episode, I speak to Petula Thomas, CEO of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce, a premier platform for trade promotion between India and Australia and the only organization in the country promoting bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. As CEO of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Thomas leads on creating the Chamber’s strategic vision and delivery of its key initiatives and engagement across Government and industry. With Ms. Thomas heading the Chamber, it has expanded to Western India, Bengaluru, East India and Northern India. Her earlier roles have been the British & Australian Government in India and British Airways Plc. Ms. Thomas won four performance awards from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (London) during her tenure at the British Government. She’s on the advisory of the IABCA and a member of CII’s International Sub-Committee since 2019.

The backdrop to this episode was truly historic & timely. On the eve of our conversation, the Australian Parliament had ratified the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) with India, popularly called the Ind Aus ECTA, thereby paving the way for implementing the deal as early as January 1, 2023. Our wide-ranging conversation dealt with the Chamber’s role in furthering India-Australia trade & investment opportunities, her engagements with various Union & state-level officials in India, the key sectors of significance for both the countrys’ businesses and some interesting responses to our popular ‘Strongly Agree to Disagree’ segment!

IACC Report on Tech & Innovation (2021)

Attribution:
The Bridge Project (2022), "Down Under in Chennai: A Conversation with Petula Thomas, CEO, Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce", 01 Dec, 2022, URL: https://www.buzzsprout.com/921337/11790175

Research Credits:
Carl

Music Credits:
Inspired by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired
Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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