India Hosts the Special Negotiation Round for Pillars II-IV of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) from 8-11 February 2023 in New Delhi

· Commerce and Industry Minister Calls for Focus on early Harvest of Mutually Beneficial Deliverables

· Emphasis on Common Tangible Benefits like Capacity Building; Technical Assistance, including Sharing of Expertise and Best Practices; Investments, Innovative Projects

India hosted the special negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in New Delhi, India, from February 8-11, 2023. The round covered IPEF Pillars II (Supply Chains), III (Clean Economy), and IV (Fair Economy).

Approximately 300 officials from India, the United States, Australia, Brunei, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam participated in the deliberations.

Commerce Secretary of India, Sunil Barthwal, inaugurated the Special Round on the 8th February 2023 in a brief opening ceremony which saw Chief Negotiators from the partner IPEF countries joining the Commerce Secretary in lighting the traditional lamps. Speaking on the occasion, the Commerce Secretary reiterated that India was committed to play a significant role in the Indo Pacific region and contributing to a more stable and prosperous future. He urged all the delegates to focus on the broader objectives: creating more conducive environments for enhancing trade and investment linkages, development of resilient supply chains, and acceleration of sustainable development.

On 10 February 2023, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry hosted a reception for the visiting delegates of the IPEF partner countries. The dinner was attended by Chief Negotiators and their delegates, Ambassadors and senior officials from IPEF partner countries. Citing the remarks of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi at the launch of IPEF in May 2022, the Minister encouraged members to come up with creative and innovative approaches to develop convergences and achieve tangible outcomes. He specifically urged members to focus energy on early harvest of deliverables which can benefit all the members. He shared his views on some of the common tangible benefits like capacity building; technical assistance, including sharing of expertise and best practices; investments, innovative projects, etc, expected out of this initiative.

Building on the discussions that took place during the previous round in Brisbane, Australia, in December 2022, in-depth text-based discussions of the three pillars were held in New Delhi. The IPEF Partners engaged in a productive exchange of ideas and feedback and agreed to continue working intensively in the period ahead in order to make further progress in each of the three pillars. The IPEF Partners reaffirmed their commitments to continuing collaboration to expeditiously conclude agreements that include concrete benefits to enhance a shared vision for economic competitiveness and prosperity in their respective economies.

Speaking at the Stakeholders session that was held on the sidelines of the Special Round on 09 February 2023, the Chief Negotiator of India, Rajesh Agarwal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, reiterated India’s belief that IPEF will deepen the economic engagement and promote inclusive development through enhancement in trade and investment in the region; and sought views and ideas of all the concerned stakeholders. IPEF Partner engagement will continue and details on the next in-person negotiating round will be shared in due course.