Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese jointly addressed the Australia-India CEOs Forum and Economic Roadmap Business event in Melbourne on July 9, 2026. The events featured participation from leading Indian and Australian CEOs, business leaders, representatives of major Australian superannuation funds and institutional investors, and Vice-Chancellors of leading Australian universities, with over 200 attendees at the Economic Roadmap business event.
Prime Minister Modi highlighted India's strong economic growth, policy reforms, digital transformation, and expanding innovation ecosystem as creating new business opportunities for Australian partners. He emphasized the complementarities between the Indian and Australian economies, noting that India's scale combined with Australian expertise creates a win-win proposition. Specific sectors identified for collaboration included manufacturing, clean energy, critical minerals, mining, infrastructure, urban development, aviation, logistics, advanced technologies, artificial intelligence, fintech, food processing, and digital economy.
Modi specifically invited Australian investors to take advantage of long-term investment opportunities in India and welcomed the growing presence of Australian universities in India. He emphasized that deeper collaboration in higher education, research, innovation, and skill development would prepare talent in both countries for the future and help them tap into global opportunities.
The Prime Minister highlighted the natural synergies between India and Australia, noting that shared democratic values, a common vision for the Indo-Pacific, vibrant people-to-people ties, and strong political understanding create fertile ground for business partnership growth. He expressed satisfaction with the growth of trade and investment ties based on the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) of 2022 and called for early conclusion of the proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to propel business ties to a new level.
Modi urged business leaders to leverage complementary strengths in both countries to create global solutions, particularly in rare earths, lithium, batteries, electronics, electric vehicles, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and defense supply chains. He also suggested that Indian states and Australian provinces should forge dynamic economic partnerships based on their core competencies to take bilateral business ties to the next level.