Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Shri Piyush Goyal will continue the second leg of his US tour and will go to Los Angeles today to attend the first face-to-face meeting of the Indo Ministers. -Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF), US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and other major events. Earlier in the day, Shri Goyal had a midday meeting with ‘Indiaspora’.
In an interaction with the media later in the day, ahead of the IPEF Ministerial Meeting, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the discussion at the IPEF will focus on opening up opportunities for member states to work in partnership with each other to ensure that especially during challenging and difficult times supply chains will remain open and businesses and people in countries will not suffer due to chaotic conditions such as covid and conflict.
Describing IPEF as a new and unique initiative and partnership between like-minded, rule-based countries that have transparent economic systems, Shri Goyal said that IPEF will work to ensure that the Indo-Pacific region remains secure and open for business. The minister further said that at the IPEF ministerial meeting, discussions will focus on facilitating open trade and maintaining open supply chains. He said that as trade relations with IPEF countries expand, investment from and to India will also pick up. All the countries meeting tomorrow have a lot to offer each other in terms of trade, investment and technology and we will work together on all fronts, he added.
Responding to a query, Shri Goyal said that the US and India share very good and strong trade relations. The US is India’s largest trading partner and many Indian companies do a lot of work for their American counterparts. There is a lot of investment flowing into India from the US, he added. Noting that the US and India are coming closer, the minister said that the relationship between the two nations is getting stronger every day through two quads – one with Japan and Australia and another with Israel and the UAE. The 2 plus 2 ministerial dialogues between India and the US are strong and vibrant and our engagements in several areas including geopolitical and sensitive areas are expanding. The leaders of the two countries, the businesses of the two countries and the people of the two countries are closer than ever before, he added.
Highlighting some of the milestones India has achieved in international engagement such as foreign trade worth US$ 675 billion despite the challenges of conflict, inflation, threat of recession and pandemic and record FDI in the last eight years, the Minister expressed confidence that India is and will to remain the preferred trading partner and investment destination for the world thanks to its huge market, honest government and transparent economic policies, rule of law, vibrant media and judiciary. He added that it will improve the welfare of people in India, provide jobs, boost economic activity and thus growth.
The minister also held talks with top semiconductor manufacturing and research companies and laboratories to explore greater collaboration with Indian companies. He arranged a meeting with Tim Archer, CEO of Lam Research. “Building on our pool of young and skilled workforce, we discussed how India, in collaboration with Lam Research, can provide a cutting edge in semiconductor innovation,” he tweeted after the meeting.
