About this regional hub
The India-Gulf offices located in India and the United Arab Emirates help WA companies to access trade and investment opportunities in countries in South Asia including Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka; and Africa, the Gulf and the Middle East.
We speak a range of languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, French, Marathi, German and Arabic.
For information about trade, investment and export with Western Australia, get in touch with us via our online enquiry form.
Our Commissioner for India Gulf
Ian Martinus
Investment and Trade Commissioner for India-Gulf
Ian is the Investment and Trade Commissioner for India-Gulf and works as part of Invest and Trade Western Australia.
As Investment and Trade Commissioner, Ian and his team in Mumbai, Chennai and Dubai work to attract investment and grow trade opportunities for Western Australian businesses within the India-Gulf region.
Ian is an economic development specialist with decades of experience in investment and trade, business development and strategy; as well as international education and training.
Ian’s consulting and economic impact work spans defence industry, emerging technologies, agritech and advanced manufacturing. He has extensive experience working with government, industry and academia in cybersecurity, innovation and data.
Most recently, Ian worked at the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC) where he led the commercialisation and development of go-to-market strategies. As Head of Commercialisation and Impact for the CSCRC, Ian promoted Australia's capability in cyber security-related products and services created by Australia's best cyber security researchers in partnership with industry.
Ian holds a Doctor of Business Administration (Information Systems) and speaks fluent Japanese and conversational Indonesian.
Email: Ian.Martinus@jtsi.wa.gov.au
Tel: +91 720 017 8202 (India) | +61 433 169 101 (Australia)
Our Locations in the Region
Chennai, India
Taj Connemara, No. 2, Binny Road, off Anna Salai Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600002, India Phone: +91 720 017 8202
Mumbai, India
93, 9th Floor, Jolly Maker Chambers II, Nariman Point Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400 021, India Phone: +91 22 6630 3973-76
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Office 106, Emarat Atrium Building Sheikh Zayed Road PO Box 58007 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Phone: +971 4 343 3226
Tamil Nadu Minister pays visit to WA
Following the signing of a Letter of Intent (LoI) in March 2023, the Western Australia and Tamil Nadu partnership has gone from strength to strength. Illustrating the continued growth of this relationship, the Honorable Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services in Tamil Nadu, led a four-member delegation to Perth from 26 June to 30 June 2023.
Their visit included attending the Australia India Chamber of Commerce (AICC) National Conference, engaging with senior government and industry leaders and site visits to science and innovation hubs in Perth.
Nashid Chowdhury, the Invest and Trade Commissioner for WA in India-Gulf, Cleona James, Director of Investment and Trade in Mumbai, and Vikram Walia, Business Development Manager in Chennai, were also in Perth for the AICC National Conference and to accompany the Minister and his delegation for all the activities.
A highlight of the visit was Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan’s delivery of a keynote speech at the AICC National Conference on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government, emphasising their commitment to fostering stronger ties with WA.
Whilst in Perth, the Minister and his delegation met with WA Premier, the Hon. Roger Cook MLA, the Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC, the Hon. David Templeman MLA, the Hon. Paul Papalia CLC MLA, the Presiding Officers of WA Parliament Delegation, and Dr. Jagadish Krishna MLA.
As part of their program, the Hon. Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan co-chaired a WA-Tamil Nadu roundtable with Dr. Jagadish Krishna MLA and Nashid Chowdhury, where WA stakeholders provided updates on partnerships formed in Tamil Nadu during and after the Invest and Trade Western Australia Trade Mission to India in July 2022. Topics of discussions included future opportunities to collaborate across the WA priority sectors of education, energy, mining and METS, space and innovation, defence, agriculture, health, and medical life sciences.
The Tamil Nadu delegation also visited the City of Joondalup and the state-of-the-art Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, further enhancing their understanding of Western Australia's technological innovation.
For more information on business opportunities in India, Western Australian businesses can reach out to the team at investandtrade@jtsi.wa.gov.au.
Published on: 06 July 2023
Get in touch
If you are looking for opportunities in business, investment or trade, contact our experienced team at Invest and Trade WA.
Our in-house experts can support you directly and provide referrals or introductions across our network of overseas offices, industry bodies and government agencies.
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