The IPEF can promote inclusive development in the region, Piyush Goyal said

India will host the next special negotiation round on three of the four pillars of the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) on February 8-11 next year, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on Tuesday.

Pillars 2-4 deal with Supply Chains, Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Infrastructure; and Tax & Anti-Corruption. India has not joined Pillar 1 of the IPEF, which covers Trade, yet.

The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on the sidelines of the Quad Summit in Tokyo on May 23.

Participating in a virtual Ministerial Meeting on Economic Benefits for the IPEF on Tuesday alongside other partner nations and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal invited all partner countries for the next special negotiation round.

He expressed the belief that the IPEF can promote inclusive development through enhancement of trade and investment in the region.

According to the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Goyal urged members to focus energy on the early harvest of deliverables that can benefit all the members.

Speaking during the meeting, the Minister shared his views on some of the common tangible benefits like capacity building; technical assistance, including sharing of expertise and best practices; investments, innovative projects, etc, expected out of this initiative.

Additionally, he discussed some of India's specific expectations from IPEF. He stated that India could support the resilience of supply chains in industries like pharmaceuticals and, in turn, invited support from members members in the areas of semiconductors, critical minerals, and clean technologies.

He also discussed the non-paper that India presented on some of the concepts, such as mobilizing financial resources for climate action at reasonable costs. He also highlighted the need for measures to counter terror financing.

Goyal reaffirmed his unwavering support for the negotiation timeline set at the most recent Brisbane summit.

Later, Secretary Raimondo expressed his appreciation for India's invitation to host the special IPEF Pillars 2–4 negotiating round and gave India his word that the US IPEF team will cooperate closely with them on this matter.