New Delhi (NVI): The trade ministers of Australia, India and Japan today came together to discuss the vital need for regional cooperation on supply chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific region.
They shared their intention to work towards the launch of a new initiative to achieve the objective through cooperation.
The issue was discussed during a virtual meeting of Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kajiyama Hiroshi.
“The Ministers reaffirmed their determination to take a lead in delivering a free, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment and in keeping their markets open,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
In light of the COVID-19 crisis and the recent global-scale changes in the economic and technological landscape, they underscored the necessity and potential to enhance the resiliency of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Recognising the pressing need for regional cooperation on supply chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific, the ministers shared their intention to work toward the launch of a new initiative to achieve the objective through cooperation,” the statement said.
They also noted the important role of business and academia in realising the objective, and called for other countries in the region to participate in the initiative.
Meanwhile, addressing the meeting, Piyush Goyal said that the initiative could not have come at a more opportune time in the post COVID scenario when there is a likelihood of rechurning of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.
“India wholeheartedly endorses the broad concept of working towards ensuring a trustworthy, dependable and reliable supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region. The diversification of supply chain is critical for managing the risks associated with supply of inputs including disciplining price volatility.” the statement quoted Goyal.
He added, for this countries may need to identify the manufacturing and services sectors that contribute most to the domestic value addition in the region.
Goyal also expressed the hope that the proposed initiative must clearly try to bridge this and work towards enhancing mutual trade.
