Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal met Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Hiroshi Kajiyama on Tuesday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Guwahati next week.
Bilateral issues were discussed in the hour-long meeting with Goyal raising the issue of trade deficit between the two countries and review of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Goyal said that balancing trade is a high priority for India with all partners. Similarly, market access for India's goods and services with partner countries is important.
But despite commitments in CEPA from Japan, market access for India's goods and services remains elusive, he said.
Both ministers asked officials to prepare a time-bound action plan to address all these issues to strengthen Indo-Japan trade relations, according to an official statement.
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