New Delhi, October 2 (IANS). Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said he met French Foreign Trade and Economic Attraction Minister Nicolas Fourissier on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting held in the US and discussed ways to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Sharing information on social media platform X, Union Minister Goyal said that in the meeting many important topics related to taking the economic partnership between India and France to new heights were discussed. The main focus of the discussion was on taking forward the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (India-EU FTA), expanding aerospace manufacturing cooperation in India, integration of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and promoting joint innovation initiatives.
He said he looked forward to welcoming the visit of the French Minister to India later this year, where the two countries will discuss in more detail how to take forward the bilateral economic agenda.
Apart from France, Piyush Goyal also held a meeting with Canada's International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu. During this, the ongoing negotiations on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries were reviewed. Both sides reiterated their commitment to intensify negotiations and achieve the common goal of increasing bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.
Goyal also met with Saudi Arabia's Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qassabi. The proposed India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) free trade agreement and opportunities to enhance trade and investment cooperation were discussed in the meeting.
Additionally, the issue of upgrading India-South Korea CEPA was discussed in the meeting with Park Jung-sung, Trade Minister of South Korea. During the talks, balanced trade growth, better market access for Indian agricultural, pharmaceutical and marine products and possibilities of increasing South Korean manufacturing investment in India were discussed.
These meetings followed Goyal's discussions with other prominent global leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit. He also met leaders including US Trade Representative Jameson Greer, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Schefcovich, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Mexico's Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Poland's Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domanski.
Topics like free trade agreements, investment flows, market access, WTO reforms, technical cooperation and global economic partnership were discussed in these meetings. This clearly shows that India is actively working towards further strengthening its economic ties with major global economies and regional groupings.
–IANS
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