Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit San Francisco from November 13-16 to attend the ministerial meeting of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), under which pacts are being negotiated on areas such as supply chain resilience.
IPEF, a group of 14 countries, was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. These nations represent 40 per cent of global GDP and 28 per cent of global goods and services trade.
The commerce ministry said in a statement on Friday that the minister would also participate in the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
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Besides, he will also interact with eminent business persons, prominent academics, US officials and industry leaders to further strengthen economic and commercial relations between the two nations.
"The minister will participate in the third in-person IPEF Ministerial meeting from November 13-14, 2023, which is likely to see significant updates on the progress of negotiations," it said.
IPEF is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined the three pillars except the trade part.
Talks are already concluded on the supply chain resilience and the process for domestic approval in India for this agreement is underway.
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Officials of the member nations are holding talks on clean economy and fair economy pillars. The member countries have an option to decide the pillar in which they wish to participate. India has opted out from the trade pillar, while it has joined the remaining three.
The member countries are holding negotiations to sign separate agreements on these subjects. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam are members of the bloc.
Goyal will also hold bilateral meetings with the US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Ministers from other IPEF partner countries on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting.
"These meetings will focus on addressing trade barriers, promoting investments, and fostering greater cooperation in areas such as technology and innovation," the ministry said.
He would be representing India at the IPEF Leaders' Meeting and the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) - IPEF Investor Forum meeting on November 16, 2023.
The APEC Economic Leaders Engagements will be on 15-16, 2023. India has been invited as a guest economy.
One of the key focus areas of the visit will be the joint event, co-chaired with Raimondo on "India-USA Innovation Handshake Initiative", with the aim to lift up and connect the two sides' dynamic startup ecosystems, address specific regulatory hurdles to cooperation, and promote further innovation and job growth, particularly in emerging technologies.
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Goyal will participate in the investors' roundtable along with one-to-one meetings with CEOs, besides interacting with various stakeholders such as students, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and Indian diaspora.
"Goyal is expected to interact with globally renowned technology, entrepreneurship, and academic communities in the Bay Area, specifically, in the Silicon Valley to undertake focused discussions with American companies looking to invest or expand in India across sectors - Electronics (including Semiconductor), Technology, FinTech," it added.
