Piyush Goyal Joins Indo-Pacific Economic
Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Virtual Ministerial Meeting
·
Goyal
Welcomes Continued Progress at IPEF
·
The
entry into force of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement w.e.f. 24 February 2024.
·
Pillar
II: Building Supply Chain Resiliency for the Indo-Pacific
·
Pillar
III: Cooperating to Accelerate the Transition to Cleaner IPEF Economies
·
Pillar
IV: Enhancing Transparency and Predictability in the Business Environment
Union Minister of
Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles,
Piyush Goyal joined U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Thai Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, along with the ministers from the other IPEF
partners, in their first Ministerial meeting this year.
During the virtual
ministerial meeting on Pillars II-IV, IPEF partners welcomed the significant progress
made since the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for the proposed IPEF
Clean Economy Agreement (Pillar III), the IPEF Fair Economy Agreement (Pillar IV),
and Agreement on IPEF in November 2023. The IPEF partners also discussed the ongoing
cooperative work ahead across the three proposed agreements.
Additionally, IPEF
partners welcomed the entry into force of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement w.e.f.
24 February 2024. The texts of the proposed Clean Economy Agreement, Fair Economy
Agreement, and Agreement on IPEF were also made public.
Addressing the Ministerial
gathering, Minister Goyal called for an expeditious implementation of all the action-oriented
collaborative elements under various IPEF Pillars. On the Pillar-II (Supply Chains
Resilience) Agreement, which entered into force on 24 February 2024, Minister Goyal
highlighted India’s global production capacities in many critical sectors, which
provide supply diversification opportunities for IPEF partners. Highlighting the
'Prime Minister Surya Ghar Muft
Bijli Yojana’ as a project that not only furthers clean economy objectives but also
generates large socio-economic multiplier effects, Minister Goyal invited investors
from IPEF partners to invest and benefit from the trillion dollar
plus opportunity that India provides in the clean economy domain.
The IPEF partners
also discussed next steps to deliver concrete outcomes under the Framework over
the next several months. This includes several new lines of effort under the Clean
Economy pillar, including the launching of four new Cooperative Work Programs (CWPs),
announcing that the inaugural IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum will be held in
Singapore on 05-06 June 2024, and providing more details on the IPEF Catalytic Capital
Fund.
The IPEF partners
further announced that the Ministers will next meet in-person in Singapore on 06
June 2024 to discuss the Supply Chain Agreement, the Clean Economy Agreement, the
Fair Economy Agreement, and the Agreement on IPEF.
Following the substantial
conclusion of the negotiations of the three proposed agreements in November 2023,
the IPEF partners conducted an intensive legal review, including an in-person round
held in Washington, D.C., during 19-23 February 2024. Having completed the legal
review process, the IPEF partners today took a significant step forward with the
finalization of the texts for the three proposed agreements. The IPEF partners will
now undertake their respective domestic processes to prepare for signature of the
agreements, followed by acceptance, approval, or ratification of the agreements.
IPEF Clean Economy
Agreement facilitates enhanced collaboration and cooperation between IPEF partners
in their respective efforts to accelerate clean energy transition, enhance energy
security, and climate resilience and adaptation, and support sustainable livelihoods
in IPEF member countries. The Agreement, upon implementation, is likely to increase
inward investments in India in the clean economy domain, promote development of
low-cost climate technologies, facilitate technical assistance and capacity building,
provide new opportunities for Indian exports, and generate additional employment
opportunities.
The proposed Fair
Economy Agreement aims to create a more transparent, predictable trade and investment
environment across the Indo-Pacific. To achieve these goals, under the proposed
agreement, the IPEF partners would work together to enhance their efforts to prevent
and combat corruption including bribery, and support efforts to improve tax transparency
and the exchange of information, domestic resource mobilization, and tax administration.
To help ensure effective
implementation of initiatives across the IPEF pillars and agreements, as well as
ensure the durability of the Framework over the long-term for ongoing economic cooperation,
the proposed Agreement on IPEF establishes two ministerial-level bodies, each to
meet annually: an IPEF Council, which will consider matters affecting the collective
operation of the IPEF agreements and Framework as whole, including proposals for
negotiations on new agreements and accession of new members; and a Joint Commission
to monitor the work under the Supply Chain Agreement, the Clean Economy Agreement,
and the Fair Economy Agreement, with a view to identifying cross-cutting synergies
and avoiding duplication of work.
Pillar II: Building
Supply Chain Resiliency for the Indo-Pacific
Following the signing
of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement in November 2023, the agreement entered into
force on 24 February 2024, after five partners deposited their instruments of ratification,
acceptance, or approval. The IPEF partners are now working towards operationalizing
the agreement, including naming their representatives to the agreement’s three bodies
(the Supply Chain Council, the Crisis Response Network, and the Labor Rights Advisory Board), electing chairs, and adopting
terms of reference for each, as well as identifying their respective initial lists
of critical sectors and key goods for cooperation under the agreement.
Pillar III: Cooperating
to Accelerate the Transition to Cleaner IPEF Economies
The IPEF partners
further discussed the progress on Pillar III since the substantial conclusion of
the negotiations of the proposed Clean Economy Agreement in November 2023. The IPEF
partners welcomed the inaugural IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum, which will take
place in Singapore on 05-06 June 2024. The Forum will bring together some of the
region’s largest investors and philanthropies with government agencies and innovative
companies and entrepreneurs to mobilize increased investment for climate-related
infrastructure, technologies, and projects in the region. These investments will
advance the goals of the 14 IPEF partner countries set out in the proposed Clean
Economy Agreement. For more information and future updates, please visit: www.IPEFinvestorforum.org.
The IPEF partners
also announced plans to provide $33 million in initial grant funding for the IPEF
Catalytic Capital Fund under the Pillar III Clean Economy Agreement. These funds
will be instrumental in catalyzing up to $3.3 billion
in private investment for climate infrastructure projects in IPEF economies party
to the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement. The Fund’s founding supporters include Australia,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. The Private Infrastructure
Development Group will administer and leverage the Fund to deploy concessional financing,
technical assistance, and capacity building support to expand the pipeline of high
quality, resilient, and inclusive climate infrastructure projects.
In addition, the
IPEF partners took stock of the CWP on hydrogen announced in May 2023, as well potential
new ones. Under the proposed agreement, the CWPs are a mechanism through which the
IPEF partners or a group of partners prioritize their focus and resources on a common
goal. On hydrogen, those interested IPEF partners have taken steps to advance the
initiative, including establishing workstreams related to the exchange of information
and sharing of best practices on methodologies, standards, and certifications developed
by international bodies on the carbon intensity of hydrogen and its carriers, as
well as cross-border pilots and demonstration projects.
The IPEF partners
also announced four new CWPs based on proposals put forward by partners:
• On carbon markets, interested IPEF partners
initially are seeking to understand existing regional carbon market priorities and
identify strategies for improving the enabling conditions for cooperation;
• Interested
IPEF partners also are pursuing clean electricity enhancement to facilitate increased
decarbonization and access to clean energy in the region, including through public-private
cooperation;
• To
advance the promotion of employment creation and labor
rights and strengthen efforts to address employment shifts in the move to clean
energy, interested IPEF partners endeavor to pursue workforce
development efforts to ensure a just transition towards achieving a clean economy;
and
• Interested
IPEF partners will collaborate on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to enhance the
availability and affordability of SAF and its feedstocks, so as to catalyze and develop regional SAF value chains in the region.
India has also proposed
certain specific Cooperative Work Programmes and is working with IPEF partners for
their early adoption.
Pillar IV: Enhancing
Transparency and Predictability in the Business Environment
The IPEF partners
also discussed ways to deliver early results under the proposed Pillar IV Fair Economy
Agreement to foster a more predictable and transparent business environment and
help drive greater trade and investment among the partners. The Pillar IV Agreement
is expected to enhance information sharing among partners, facilitate asset recovery
and strengthen cross-border investigations and prosecutions. It will also aid in
India’s fight against corruption, money laundering and terror financing.
In recognition of
the critical role of technical assistance and capacity building (TACB) on achieving
the commitments laid out in the proposed agreement and ensuring effective implementation
and enforcement of anti-corruption measures and improving transparency tax administration,
the partners look forward to continuing to identify and implement TACB initiatives
to strengthen anti-corruption efforts and the efficiency of tax administration.
About IPEF
IPEF was launched
in May 2022, bringing together 14 regional partners – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India,
Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam – in a new model of economic
cooperation. IPEF negotiations began in late 2022. In May 2023, the IPEF partners
announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for a first-of-its-kind
IPEF Supply Chain Agreement. In November 2023, the IPEF partners announced the substantial
conclusion of the negotiations on the proposed IPEF Clean Economy and Fair Economy
Agreements, as well as on a proposed overarching Agreement on IPEF to help ensure
the durability of the framework and held a signing ceremony for the IPEF Supply
Chain Agreement.