Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Mr. Anthony Albanese, jointly addressed the Australia-India CEOs Forum and the Economic Roadmap Business event in Melbourne on 9 July 2026. Leading Indian and Australian CEOs and business leaders, representatives of major Australian superannuation funds and institutional investors, and Vice-Chancellors of leading Australian universities participated in the two events.
Addressing the CEOs Forum, Prime Minister Modi highlighted that India's strong economic growth, policy reforms, digital transformation, and expanding innovation ecosystem were creating new business opportunities for Australian partners. Noting the complementarities between the Indian and Australian economies, Prime Minister Modi underlined the vast opportunities available in India across manufacturing, clean energy, critical minerals, mining, infrastructure, urban development, aviation, logistics, advanced technologies, artificial intelligence, fintech, food processing and digital economy sectors. He stated that India’s scale and Australian expertise make for a win-win proposition.
Prime Minister Modi invited Australian investors to take advantage of the opportunities for long-term investments in India. He welcomed the growing presence of Australian universities in India and highlighted that deeper collaboration in higher education, research, innovation and skill development would not only make talent in both countries future ready, but also help them to tap into global opportunities.
Following the CEOs Forum, Prime Minister Modi also addressed the Economic Roadmap business event, a larger gathering of over 200 CEOs and business leaders from both sides. Speaking about natural synergies between India and Australia, he highlighted that shared democratic values, a common vision for the Indo-Pacific, vibrant people-to-people ties and strong political understanding created fertile ground for the business partnership between the two countries to grow and prosper together. Expressing satisfaction at the growth of trade and investment ties based on the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) of 2022, he called for early conclusion of the proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), so as to propel business ties to a new level. He urged the business leaders to leverage complementary strengths on both sides and create global solutions, especially in the fields of rare earths, lithium, batteries, electronics, EVs, semiconductors, AI and defence supply chains. Prime Minister Modi also suggested that for bilateral business ties to grow to the next level, it was important that Indian states and Australian provinces forge dynamic economic partnerships based on their core competencies. Noting the optimism and meaningful ideas generated by the discussions in the two forums, Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence that India-Australia economic ties would continue to prosper.
