G7 Trade Ministers Meeting: Union Minister Piyush Goyal Advocates Global Supply Chain Resilience

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, addressed the G7 Trade Ministers Meeting in Osaka, Japan on Saturday emphasizing the imperative need for enhancing global supply chain resilience. Acknowledging the vulnerabilities exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical events, Goyal stressed on the rising commodity prices and global inflation, attributing them to the fragility of existing supply chains.

Goyal's intervention underscored the significance of public-private partnerships, investments in critical infrastructure, and the crucial role of innovation and digitalization in fortifying supply chains. He advocated for supply chain diversification and the continuous skilling and re-skilling of personnel to adapt to evolving market demands. The minister called for collaborative efforts among governments to establish a regulatory framework facilitating seamless movement of supply chains and promoting cross-border trade.

Goyal also referenced the Generic Framework for Mapping of Global Value Chains, outlined in the New Delhi Declaration of the G20. Representatives from governments, private sectors, and international organizations such as OECD and WTO actively participated in the session. Several private sector entities shared their success stories, with Suzuki presenting its experience in India, where it achieved over 95% indigenization in its supply chains. ERIA highlighted India's growing share in global value chains through their research findings.

Key interventions were made by trade ministers from Australia, Chile, Indonesia, and Kenya, who contributed valuable suggestions to enhance global supply chain resilience. On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Goyal engaged in bilateral discussions with counterparts from Japan, the UK, Australia, the United States, and Germany.

The talks centered on enhancing bilateral trade, eliminating non-tariff barriers, updates on ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, and the forthcoming ministerial conference on the World Trade Organization (WTO). Additionally, Goyal met with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, and Tatsuo Yasunagawa, Chairman of Mitsui, Japan, and the Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee (JIBCC).

The G7, comprising seven major global economies, collectively accounting for over half of the world's wealth, 30-43% of global GDP, and 10% of the global population, invited India as one of the select countries to participate in this pivotal trade ministers' meeting in Osaka.