Working for stronger ties among IPEF nations: Govt

New Delhi, September 9

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday attended the first in-person ministerial meeting of the India-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF) in Los Angeles.

Goyal said he had useful engagements with the 14 members of the IPEF and hoped that in a day’s time, the forum would finalise a framework within which member nations could interact on different areas of mutual interest.

The first meeting of IPEF senior officials and experts was held in Singapore, which was followed by another virtual meeting. Besides the Quad members, other member states are Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Fiji and New Zealand.

Interacting with the media on the sidelines of the IPEF, Goel assured India would take decisions on different aspects of the frameworks of the IPEF based on its national interest.

Ahead of the ministerial meeting, Goyal met Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell. He also held meetings with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Vietnamese Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien.