US Secretary of Commerce, Ms Gina Raimondo to Visit New Delhi between 7-10 March

· During the visit, India - USA Commercial Dialogue and CEO Forum to be held

US Secretary of Commerce HE Ms Gina Raimondo will be visiting New Delhi, India between 7-10 March on the invitation of Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles.

During the visit, India - USA Commercial Dialogue and CEO Forum will be held on 10th March 2023 to discuss cooperation in various sectors that could unlock new trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.

The Commercial Dialogue is a cooperative undertaking encompassing regular government-to-government meetings to be held in conjunction with private sector meetings, with an aim to facilitate trade, and maximize investment opportunities across a broad range of economic sectors.

The last India-USA Commercial Dialogue was held in February 2019. Since then, due to pandemic and other factors it could not be held. It is proposed to re-launch the Commercial Dialogue with strategic outlook with focus on supply chain resiliency & diversification and new emerging areas, after a gap of three years.

Earlier, India-US CEO Forum was soft-launched by Indian Commerce & Industry Minister and US Secretary of Commerce on 9th November 2022 via video-conference for which identified key priorities were increasing supply chain resilience, enhancing energy security & reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, advancing inclusive digital trade; and facilitating post-pandemic economic recovery, especially for small businesses.

Trade, Commerce and Economy had always enjoyed a place of prominence in the India-US multifaceted strategic bilateral relations. Today, the two countries are leading trading partners of each other. India is the ninth largest trading partner for the US, while the US is India’s largest trading partner and the largest export destination. The bilateral trade in goods saw very robust growth during CY 2022, surpassing $131 billion in goods, thus doubling since 2014 (in 8 years) while total trade in Goods and Services is expected to cross US$ 180 billion. US is also the third biggest source of FDI for India, and USA is one of the top five investment destinations for India. This visit will immensely contribute towards furthering trade and commercial ties between the two countries.