Afternoon Tea in Support of Official Travel to India

Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training, the Honourable Ros Bates MP; Consul-General of India, Ms Neetu Bhaagotia; Trade and Investment Queensland CEO, Mr Justin McGowan; President of the Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland, Dr Preethi Suraj; Director of the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology within the University of Queensland, Professor Alan Rowan; distinguished guests.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here today.

Graeme and I join our co-host, Minister Bates, in welcoming you all to Government House this afternoon, ahead of our official trip to India as part of the Trade Investment Queensland delegation, which departs on Friday.

For Graeme and me, this is our first ever visit to India, and we are excited that our itinerary will enable us to personally experience the culture, history and unique vibrancy that make modern India so special.

Recently, I attended two separate Republic Day celebrations hosted by the Consulate-General of India, Brisbane, and the Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland, and late last year I enjoyed a taste of Diwali—also courtesy of the FICQ—so I know this will be an immensely interesting trip.

However, this trade mission’s broad objectives are, of course, to help raise our state’s profile by emphasising our amazing capabilities in key sectors—while at the same time, celebrating and reinforcing our already close relationship with India. 

Our trade mission will take us to New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and I am very much looking forward to meeting some of the incredible individuals who are already doing so much to showcase and advance Queensland’s outstanding reputation for expertise and innovation across diverse industries.

A key focus will be BioAsia 2025—regarded as the region’s premier life sciences and health-technology event—and which also serves to demonstrate India’s unwavering commitment to driving transformative change in global healthcare outcomes.

I am honoured to be speaking at the Conference’s Inaugural Ceremony—addressing the almost 3,000 participants expected to attend—and I will be so proud to see the TIQ Pavilion in all its glory—giving Queensland businesses and enterprises a valuable opportunity to exhibit their cutting-edge initiatives to a global audience.

I am sure BioAsia 2025 will be inspiring and productive, as it brings together the world’s experts across all areas of the healthcare industry, yet this event also highlights what can be achieved through collaboration.

In fact, it is this very quality that underpins our state and country’s close connection with India itself. I am sure that each of you here today know that effective working partnerships come from exchanging expertise and knowledge, and sharing a determination to generate positive change.

I therefore thank you for fostering the deep sense of cooperation and accord that is so beneficial to the connections between our two countries.

I wish all of our Queensland BioAsia exhibitors a most successful and informative time in India, and, along with Minister Bates, thank TIQ’s CEO, Mr Justin McGowan, and his team for organising this important trade mission.

Thank you.