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4th pillar of IPEF will enhance information sharing among its members: Piyush Goyal
The four pillars of the framework are -- trade (pillar I), supply chains (pillar II), clean economy (pillar III), and fair economy (pillar IV). Barring pillar I, India joined the other three pillars
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that the fourth pillar of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) will enhance information sharing among its 14 members, including India, Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the US, to facilitate asset recovery, strengthen cross-border investigations and prosecutions.
While the IPEF members signed the supply chain agreement under pillar-II, they have reached at a broad consensus over the clean economy (pillar-III), which aims to advance cooperation on research, development, commercialisation, availability, accessibility, and deployment of clean energy and climate friendly technologies, and facilitate investment towards climate-related projects in the region.
The region comprises 40% of global GDP and 28% of global goods and services trade.
Goyal said he was “extremely pleased” to join the President of the United States (POTUS) and other leaders of IPEF as they “collectively” agreed on Pillars II, III and IV.
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The minister was representing India at the third IPEF Ministerial meeting in USA.
The four pillars of the framework are -- trade (pillar I), supply chains (pillar II), clean economy (pillar III), and fair economy (pillar IV). Barring pillar I, India joined the other three pillars. It has an observer status in pillar-I.
“I am confident that the launch of several IPEF initiatives, such as the Critical Minerals dialogue, Investment Accelerator, Catalytic Fund, Investor Forum, IPEF Networks, and so on, will usher in sustainable growth & development, progress and prosperity for the people of IPEF countries. India is ready to collaborate for collective positive action,” the minister said in a tweet.
Following substantial conclusion of the negotiations on the Pillar II in May 2023, the IPEF ministers signed the ‘Supply Chain Agreement’ during the November ministerial meeting.
Negotiations under Pillar-III and IV along with the agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity were also substantially concluded in this ministerial meeting, an official statement said on Friday.
The agreement on the IPEF seeks to establish a ministerial-level council and a commission.
During his intervention under the pillar-III, Goyal stressed the need for increased collaboration in research and development (R&D) of innovative and affordable climate friendly technologies.
He underscored the need to prioritise implementation of cooperative work programmes envisaged under this pillar, including hydrogen supply chain initiative and other proposals in the pipeline such as India’s proposal for biofuels and e-waste recycling.
IPEF, jointly launched by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23, 2022 at Tokyo, has 14 partner countries -- Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and USA.
It seeks to strengthen economic engagement among partners with the goal of advancing growth, peace and prosperity in the region.
Under the pilar-IV (fair economy), IPEF partners aimed to strengthen implementation of effective anti-corruption and tax measures to boost commerce, trade, and investment among member economies.
During deliberations, Goyal highlighted enhancing information sharing among partners, facilitating asset recovery and strengthening cross-border investigations and prosecutions as the key benefits to emerge from the agreement, the statement said.
He highlighted that this would strengthen the joint resolve to fight against corruption, money laundering and terror financing.
The supply-chain agreement concluded under pillar-II, recognises the importance of building resilient and competitive supply chains across the Indo-Pacific region. This first-of-its-kind agreement will establish a regional supply chain with improved crisis response capabilities if supply chains disrupt.
“The 14 IPEF partners continue their work on their respective domestic processes necessary for the entry into force of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement and are eager to begin to put it into formal action,” the statement said.
