SAN FRANCISCO: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF) ministerial meeting in Los Angeles tomorrow and discuss ways to promote open trade in the region.
Goyal said that discussions at IPEF will focus on opening opportunities for the member nations and ensure that during challenging times, supply chains remain open and businesses do not suffer because of chaotic conditions like covid and conflicts.
"IPEF would work to ensure that the Indo-Pacific Region would remain secure and open for business," he told reporters here.
The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo.
It seeks to strengthen economic partnership among participating countries with the objective of enhancing resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness and competitiveness in the region.
The 14 members of the IPEF are -- Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the US.
"IPEF would work to ensure that the Indo-Pacific Region would remain secure and open for business," the minister said, adding discussions would also focus on facilitating open trade, and ways to keep supply chains smooth.
Meanwhile, the minister also engaged with top companies and labs of semiconductor manufacturing and research to explore greater collaboration with Indian companies. He held a meeting with Tim Archer, CEO of Lam Research.
"Building on our pool of young & skilled workforce discussed how India in collaboration with Lam research, can provide a leading edge in semiconductor innovation," he tweeted after the meeting.
Earlier, interacting with the Indian diaspora here, Goyal said the government is playing the role of facilitator between startups and investors based in the US.
"We are trying to move away from red-tapism, which existed in the past. The Government of India is trying to look at every single opportunity to make a conducive business environment," he noted.