India in Dialogue with US in Pacific Forum

· Piyush Goyal Participates in Virtual Ministerial Meeting on Economic Benefits for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

· India to host next special negotiation round for Pillars II-IV of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) on 8-11 February, 2023

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal along with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and other IPEF partner countries, participated in virtual Ministerial Meeting on Economic Benefits for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) on 20 December 2022.

Mr. Goyal complimented partner countries for taking the initiative in right earnest. He expressed his belief that IPEF will promote inclusive development through enhancement of trade and investment in the region.

Minister Goyal extended invitation to all partners countries for the next special negotiation round for Pillars 2-4 of IPEF to be hosted by India on 8-11 February, 2023.

He urged members to focus energy on early harvest of deliverables which can benefit all the members. He was happy to note that there seemed to be a consensus among members on setting up of an investment forum consisting of private and public sector stakeholders to encourage investment in clean energy sector, during recent round at Brisbane, Australia.

The Minister 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.

Mr. Goyal also shared with IPEF partners some of India’s specific expectations under IPEF. He said that India can contribute towards supply chain resilience in sectors like pharmaceuticals and invited support from members in semiconductors, critical minerals and clean technologies including on innovative projects which can be promoted beyond IPEF in other developing countries. He further talked about the non-paper submitted by India on some of the ideas like mobilization of financial resources for climate action at reasonable costs. He also drew attention of partner countries on need for measures to counter terror financing.

Further, the Minister expressed his full support to the negotiations schedule agreed at the Brisbane meeting held recently.

Secretary Raimondo welcomed India's offer to host the special negotiation round for Pillars 2-4 of IPEF and assured that the US IPEF team would work closely with India in this regard.