India-US CEO forum discuss ways to strengthen bilateral economic ties

The India-United States CEO Forum chaired jointly by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met virtually on Wednesday to strengthen economic ties between both nations, an official statement released by the department of commerce said.

The forum is a platform for dialogue across key sectoral themes and aims to identify areas for closer collaboration for mutual benefit of both economies. It comprises chief executive officers (CEOs) from leading Indian and US based companies, and is co-chaired by Tata Sons Chairman N  Chandrasekaran and Lockheed Martin President and Chief Executive Officer James Taiclet.

This is the sixth time the forum has been convened since its reconstitution eight years ago by both nations.

The statement released on Thursday said during the meeting, Goyal highlighted the significant growth of the India-US economic relations that had been driven by the common interest of promoting sustainability, emerging technologies, globally resilient supply chains, and small businesses.

He reiterated the importance of such dialogues in leveraging this momentum. Both sides identified common focus areas that will further bolster the bilateral partnership between the two nations.  

This dialogue will serve as the framework under which specific recommendations will be charted out during the sixth edition of the India-US CEO Forum, which will be held early next year.

“The CEOs, under the seven working groups, presented priority areas to create stronger partnerships and boost growth across various critical areas such as entrepreneurship and promoting small businesses, health care and pharmaceuticals, aerospace and defence, ICT and digital infrastructure, energy, water and environment, infrastructure and manufacturing, financial services, trade and investments, among others,” an official statement from the commerce and industry ministry said on Thursday.

US was India’s largest trade partner and largest export market during April-August with total trade reaching $57.6 billion. India exported goods worth $35.2 billion during the same time period a year ago.