IANS | 15 Nov, 2023
India, the US and 12 other IPEF partner countries have signed the
first Supply Chain Resilience Agreement aimed at strengthening global
supply chains.
The agreement was signed by Commerce and Industry Ministry Piyush Goyal on India’s behalf at the IPEF meeting in San Francisco.
"India
joins U.S. and 12 other IPEF partners to ink the IPEF Supply Chain
Resilience Agreement, a first-of-its-kind international agreement that
will fortify and strengthen global supply chains; and foster
adaptability, stability and sustainability," Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal posted on X on Wednesday.
The agreement is
expected to make Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)
supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated, and
contribute towards economic development and progress of the region as a
whole.
Speaking at the event, Goyal emphasised enhanced
collaboration to realize collective aims of the IPEF, particularly on
the need for mobilizing affordable financing for clean economy
transition and for enhancing technology cooperation. He also urged early
implementation of the envisaged cooperative work under IPEF, including
on bio-fuels alliance suggested by India.
Further, the Ministers
from IPEF partner countries also had productive discussions on the
substantial progress made by the IPEF partners on Pillar-III (Clean
Economy) and Pillar-IV (Fair Economy). Speaking at the Ministerial
meeting, the Minister suggested enhanced collaboration among IPEF
partners.
Also, on the sidelines of the IPEF Ministerial, the
Minister held bilateral meetings with Gina Raimondo, United States
Secretary of Commerce, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Minister of International
Trade & Industry, Ministry of International Trade & Industry,
Malaysia, and Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic
Affairs Republic of Indonesia.
During these ministerial meetings,
he discussed bilateral collaboration on trade, commerce and investment,
enhanced business engagements, WTO matters, and other issues of mutual
interest. During the interaction with his counterparts from ASEAN
countries, the Minister suggested expedited conclusion of the AITIGA
review.
The Minister and the US Secretary of Commerce
also co-chaired a kick-off industry roundtable titled, “Decoding the
“Innovation Handshake”: U.S. – India Entrepreneurship Partnership”,
which was co-hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) and the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and supported by National
Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and Startup
India, CEOs from major ICT companies, executives from venture capital
firms, and founders of startups in the critical and emerging technology
space.
Capping off the day’s engagements, the Minister held an
interaction with Indian entrepreneurs in the Western United States. The
interaction was organised by the Consulate General of India in San
Francisco in collaboration with IIT Alumni & TIE Global.