About 20 senior Indian business leaders will attend the T20 Cricket match at Adelaide Oval tomorrow, as part of a high-level Indian Business Forum.

Premier Jay Weatherill said the State Government is hosting the business forum to further develop partnerships with Indian businesses, particularly for the state’s key growth sectors.

“We recently signed a sister-state agreement with Rajasthan in India, and as the agreement outlines, the Government of South Australia is keen to share our knowledge across India,” Mr Weatherill said.

“There is no greater shared passion between India and Australia than cricket, and whilse our countries battle on the field in tomorrow’s T20 match, off the field, we will be fostering our growing friendship.

“We want to use this Australia Day mate as another opportunity to exchange ideas, encourage further trade, investment and, ultimately, economic prosperity for both of our regions.”

India is South Australia’s fourth largest export market with exports valuing $818 million in 2014/15 – this predominately consisted of copper ($542 million), lead ($103 million) and wheat ($53 million).

During the visit, the Indian business delegation will have the opportunity to network with South Australian counterparts, business representatives and government officials.

Minister for Investment and Trade Martin Hamilton-Smith said they will also have the chance to explore some of the state’s best assets, such as the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Kangaroo Island.

“They will have the opportunity to visit some of our most exciting food and wine regions as well as watch the traditional Australia Day cricket fixture, which will see Australia and India do battle in a T20 match,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.

“We want our visitors to go back to India and tell their family and friends what a great place South Australia is to visit, not just for business opportunities, but also for recreation purposes.

“Business forums like this one, and the missions we will be undertaking this year, go a long way towards us establishing further ties with our international neighbours.

“We want to show the world that South Australia is the best place to do business and that our door is always open.”