New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS): India, the US and 12 other IPEF partner countries have signed the first Supply Chain Resilience Agreement aimed at strengthening global supply chains.

The agreement was signed by Commerce and Industry Ministry Piyush Goyal on India’s behalf at the IPEF meeting in San Francisco.

"India joins U.S. and 12 other 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; and foster adaptability, stability and sustainability," Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal posted on X on Wednesday.

The agreement is expected to make Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated, and contribute towards economic development and progress of the region as a whole.

Speaking at the event, Goyal emphasised enhanced collaboration to realize collective aims of the IPEF, particularly on the need for mobilizing affordable financing for clean economy transition and for enhancing technology cooperation. He also urged early implementation of the envisaged cooperative work under IPEF, including on bio-fuels alliance suggested by India.

Further, the Ministers from IPEF partner countries also had productive discussions on the substantial progress made by the IPEF partners on Pillar-III (Clean Economy) and Pillar-IV (Fair Economy). Speaking at the Ministerial meeting, the Minister suggested enhanced collaboration among IPEF partners.

Also, on the sidelines of the IPEF Ministerial, the Minister held bilateral meetings with Gina Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Minister of International Trade & Industry, Ministry of International Trade & Industry, Malaysia, and Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Republic of Indonesia.

During these ministerial meetings, he discussed bilateral collaboration on trade, commerce and investment, enhanced business engagements, WTO matters, and other issues of mutual interest. During the interaction with his counterparts from ASEAN countries, the Minister suggested expedited conclusion of the AITIGA review.

The Minister and the US Secretary of Commerce alsoco-chaired a kick-off industry roundtable titled, “Decoding the “Innovation Handshake”: U.S. – India Entrepreneurship Partnership”, which was co-hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and supported by National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and Startup India, CEOs from major ICT companies, executives from venture capital firms, and founders of startups in the critical and emerging technology space.

Capping off the day’s engagements, the Minister held an interaction with Indian entrepreneurs in the Western United States. The interaction was organised by the Consulate General of India in San Francisco in collaboration with IIT Alumni & TIE Global.