A push for more international students from China and India will foster investment, trade and migration into the future, South Australian Premier Mike Rann says.
Making a pitch for more students from both countries to study in Adelaide, Mr Rann said many of those who came to learn were the future leaders in the region.
"International students from China and India play an important role in developing Australia's current and future diplomatic and trade relations," Mr Rann told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) lunch on Tuesday.
"These are the future leaders of our region across a number of fields.
"Consequently the people-to-people networks that we are building will drive future patterns of investment, trade and, importantly, migration."
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Last year about 6000 Indians and about 13,000 Chinese studied in Adelaide, accounting for more than half of the city's total international student population.
International education is now South Australia's second-largest export industry after mining, injecting more than $1 billion into the state economy in the past financial year, supporting about 6500 jobs.
Mr Rann said Adelaide was a favoured destination because students and their parents considered the education to be world-class and the city affordable and safe.
"Success in this area has come about because South Australia goes beyond offering a world-class education," Mr Rann said.
"It is successfully making the students feel secure and at home.
"Extra care has been and will continue to be the difference between education playing a minor role in our economy and becoming a major economic contributor."
