New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that he held a meeting with France’s Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, Nicolas Forissier, on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in the US.
Taking to the social media platform X, Goyal said that he discussed ways to deepen trade and investment ties between the two countries.
The discussions focused on accelerating progress toward an India-European Union free trade agreement, expanding cooperation in aerospace manufacturing in India, integration of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and joint innovation initiatives, according to him.
Goyal said he looked forward to welcoming the French minister to India later this year to further advance the bilateral economic agenda.
Separately, the minister held talks with Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, reviewing ongoing negotiations for the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to speeding up negotiations and achieving the shared goal of raising bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.
Goyal also met Saudi Arabia’s Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi, with discussions centered on the proposed India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) free trade agreement and opportunities to strengthen trade and investment cooperation.
In another bilateral engagement, Goyal met South Korean Trade Minister Park Jung-Sung to discuss an upgrade of the India-Korea CEPA. The talks covered balanced trade growth, improved access for Indian agricultural, pharmaceutical and marine exports, and prospects for greater Korean manufacturing investment in India.
The meetings followed Goyal’s discussions with several other major trading partners at the G20 gathering, including US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, European Union Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Poland’s Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański.
The discussions spanned a range of issues, including trade agreements, investment flows, market access, WTO reform and technology cooperation, highlighting India’s broad-based push to strengthen economic partnerships with major global economies and regional blocs.
–IANS
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