Washington: US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during her meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal thanked India for its continued constructive engagement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), an official release has said.
Raimondo also said that she looks forward to co-leading the upcoming US-India CEO Forum and Commercial Dialogue meetings with Goyal in New Delhi this March.
She also expressed her gratitude for India’s hosting of the engagements, the Department of Commerce said in a statement Thursday.
The two also agreed on the importance of ensuring concrete follow-up of outcomes and discussed priority themes for the forum and dialogue, including supply chain resilience, enhancing energy security, inclusive digital economy, and post-pandemic economic recovery, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, said a media release.
“The Secretary also thanked the Minister for India’s continued constructive engagement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and for hosting the upcoming IPEF negotiating round for the Pillars relating to Supply Chains, Clean Energy, Decarbonisation and Infrastructure, and Tax and Anti-Corruption in February,” it said.
Raimondo also welcomed India’s presidency of the G20 and looked forward to working with Goyal and other officials to ensure a successful G20 year, the Department of Commerce said.
India formally assumes the G20 Presidency from December 1. India was handed over the presidency of the influential bloc at the end of the two-day G-20 summit in Bali, hosted by Indonesia in November.
The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. The 14 IPEF partners represent 40 percent of global GDP and 28 percent of global goods and services trade.
The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy.
-PTI