Efforts to promote Australia a major movie location

Kochi, Mar 31: While a number of Bollywood films were recently shot in Australia, efforts are on to promote 'Down Under' as a location for the South Indian movie industry also, Australian Consul-General and Trade Commissioner Aminur Rahman said.

Participating in a seminar here yesterday on 'Scope of Business Opportunities for the Australian Investors in Kerala', organised by Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Rahman said as the South Indian film industry accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the films made in India, Australia was keen to have more of them being shot in that country.

Assuring all help for the film crews, he said authorities would help the producers to get in touch with project managers, who would deal the entire details including visas, local permits, locations and logistics.

He said the bilateral trade had touched eight billion US dollars and was growing at an annual rate of about 25 per cent. The bilateral investment amounted to about one billion Australian Dollars each.

Stating that the Australian government was promoting India as a centre for trade and investment, he said roadshows had been held for the past two years in different parts of Australia, titled 'Riding the Elephant', showcasing the business opportunities in India.

''The level of interest among the Australian entrepreneurs is increasing. As of now, 120 projects are underway in India with Australian investment. These cover the IT, manufacturing and other areas. The sectoral breadth will come in as we progress,'' he added.

Highlighting education as a growing area of bilateral interest, he said Australia received several Indian students, which had already crossed the 39,000 mark. Also, India was now the third largest source of immigrants into Australia.

He highlighted aviation, tourism, especially medical tourism, hospitality, healthcare and food processing as the other areas of possible bilateral cooperation.

Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) Deputy General Manager George Joseph said Australia could invest in a big way in the growing infrastructure sector in the state. The upcoming infrastructure projects included three or four small ports, national and state highways and industrial parks.

Gold mining and ship building could be the other areas of cooperation between Australia and Kerala.

UNI