New Delhi [India], July 17 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, on Wednesday attended the G7 Trade Ministers' meeting held at Villa San Giovanni, Reggio Calabria, Italy, which served as a platform for discussions on enhancing global trade relations and economic cooperation.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Goyal engaged in several high-level bilateral meetings with his international counterparts, reflecting India's commitment to fostering stronger economic partnerships globally, a press release by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.
The Union Minister also took to his official X handle and posted about his visit to Italy. He said, "The past two days in Italy have been productive with several bilateral meetings and participation in the 'Outreach Session for Strengthening the Resilience of Supply Chains' at the G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting."
He added, "Had the opportunity to present India's growth story and highlight how our country offers greater avenues for trade and investment. Under PM Narendra Modi, India is committed to collaborating with the global community to further deepen our economic cooperation and achieve mutual growth."
During discussions with Antonio Tajani, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, both Ministers agreed to boost bilateral trade and investments, industrial co-production, and cooperation in clean technologies.
On the other hand, discussions with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission focused on promoting India-EU trade and economic collaborations, including ongoing FTA negotiations. Both sides explored opportunities to strengthen cooperation in various areas of mutual interest, the press release added.
Goyal in talks with New Zealand's Trade Minister, Todd McClay explored opportunities to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties for mutual growth. The discussions aimed at giving further impetus to the existing strong trade relationship between both the countries.
Goyal also discussed deepening bilateral economic relations with Jonathan Reynolds, UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Their conversation included plans to take forward the discussions on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK.
Goyal, in talks with Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany, discussed opportunities to promote the growing Indo-German trade and economic partnership. The discussions focused on the upcoming Inter-Governmental Consultations and the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Businesses in Delhi.
During this session, Goyal thanked Italy's Deputy PM for the invitation and underscored the significance of analysing global supply chains' robustness in times of crisis, referencing the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and the Red Sea crisis.
Goyal also emphasised the efforts of various countries to build resilient supply chains under platforms like the G20 Generic Framework for Mapping GVCs, the 14-member IPEF association, the Trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), and India-EU TTC, the release said.
He discussed India's initiatives with partners such as the United States, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations (an alliance of six Middle Eastern countriesSaudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman), and the European Union, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) to strengthen supply chains, and highlighted India's domestic measures to enhance multimodal connectivity for the supply chain integrated with markets, distribution systems, and logistics.
The Union Minister also proposed collaboration among partners to reinforce global supply chains in sectors like critical minerals, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and green energy; and advocated public-private partnerships, investments in critical infrastructure, innovation, and consistent regulatory frameworks across G7 countries and partner nations.
Goyal also addressed the impact of the 3 CsCOVID, Conflicts, and Climate change - on global value chains, highlighting the necessity for robust partnerships and cooperation. He also introduced the concept of the 3 Fs - fragmented, fragile, and fraught with uncertainties - characterizing the current global context and urged for greater alignment of investment, trade, environment, and energy policies.
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