India, the US and 12 other members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) on Wednesday entered into a supply chain resilience agreement that aims to cut dependence on China and help shift manufacturing of crucial goods to member nations.
The 14 countries that are part of IPEF include India, Australia, the US, Japan, Fiji, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand, and make up for 40% of global gross domestic product and about a third of global goods and services trade.
“India joins US and 12 other Indo-Pacific Economic Framework For Prosperity (IPEF) partners to ink the #IPEF Supply Chain Resilience Agreement, a first-of-its-kind international agreement that will fortify and strengthen global supply chains, foster adaptability, stability and sustainability,” Goyal said in a social media post.
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Members of the bloc had concluded the negotiations on this agreement, one of the four pillars of the IPEF earlier this year in May.
The IPEF is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade pillar.
The members are expected to announce the conclusion of talks for clean economy and fair economy pillars also this week.
“The Agreement is expected to make IPEF supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated, and contribute towards economic development and progress of the region as a whole,” commerce and industry ministry said in a release.
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The pact would come into force after the implementation of the agreement by any of the five member countries.
Under the fair economy pillar, IPEF partners are working on an agreement that will strengthen the implementation of effective anti-corruption and tax measures to boost commerce, trade and investment among IPEF economies.
As far as clean economy pillar is concerned, the member countries aim to cooperate on research, development, commercialisation, availability, accessibility, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies.