India, US, 12 other IPEF members conclude talks on fair economy agreements

After signing the supply chain resilience pact, India, the US, and 12 other members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) have announced the conclusion of negotiations on fair and clean economy agreements.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was here for the IPEF ministerial meeting.

According to a joint statement from IPEF partner nations, the member countries will now undertake the necessary steps, including further domestic consultations and a legal review, to prepare the final texts of the agreements.

Once finalised, the proposed agreements will be subject to IPEF partners' domestic processes for signature, followed by ratification, acceptance, or approval.

"Today, the 14 IPEF partners announced the substantial conclusion of the negotiations of the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement, the IPEF Fair Economy Agreement, and the Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity at the IPEF Ministerial Meeting in San Francisco, California," the statement said.

It was posted on the website of the US Department of Commerce.

Through the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement, the countries are committed to actively pursuing their shared climate objectives and respective pathways to net-zero emission economies while ensuring the promotion of sustainable growth and success for all partners, as per the statement.

"To that end, the proposed agreement covers a range of issues critical to transitions to clean economies, including efforts towards energy security and transition, climate resilience and adaptation, greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods and just transition," it added.

The countries also seek to increase investment flows to the region to address the acute need for financing for climate-related infrastructure, technologies, and projects in support of their transitions to clean economies.

The countries will convene an annual IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum, with the first meeting in Singapore in the first half of 2024 to catalyse investment for sustainable infrastructure and climate technology.

An IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund was also established to be administered by the Private Infrastructure Development Group to expand the pipeline of bankable climate-related infrastructure projects.

Under the IPEF Fair Economy Agreement, the statement said, the member nations are committed to working together to enhance fairness, inclusiveness, transparency, the rule of law, and accountability in their economies to improve the trade and investment environment in the Indo-Pacific region.

"The IPEF partners further recognise that a more transparent and predictable business environment can spur greater trade and investment in their markets and level the playing field for businesses and workers in the economies of the IPEF partners," it said.

To achieve these goals, under the proposed agreement, the partners would work together to enhance their efforts to prevent and combat corruption, including bribery, and support efforts to improve tax transparency and the exchange of information, domestic resource mobilisation, and tax administration.

IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 last year in Tokyo.

The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade.

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam are members of the bloc.

Together, they account for 40 per cent of the world's economic output and 28 per cent of trade.