CEO Forum: India, US reaffirm commitment to expanding bilateral commerce, trade

Washington, Oct 3 (IANS) Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and his US counterpart Gina Raimondo co-chaired the 6th meeting of the US-India CEO Forum, which is the highest platform for discussing trade and commerce between the two countries.

Government representatives of the two countries and the Forum members, during the meeting hosted on Wednesday by the US, "reaffirmed their commitment to expanding bilateral commerce and trade, driving inclusive economic growth and innovation, and fostering a resilient bilateral partnership".

Commerce Minister Goyal and Secretary Raimondo met over lunch on the sidelines of the meeting.

The Commerce Minister wrote on X that he "held a productive meeting" with Raimondo and their discussions "focused on prospects of tech and R&D collaboration in critical sectors such as defence, space, semiconductors, telecom, AI and clean energy".

"We also discussed opportunities for US investments in upcoming 20 industrial cities in India to foster mutual growth," he added.

The US-India CEO Forum is a platform for leaders of Indian and American business to develop and provide joint recommendations to strengthen bilateral commercial ties and expand trade and investment between the two countries. It has representation from 22 US companies and 25 Indian.

James Taiclet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin, and N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, were Private Sector co-chairs from 2023–2024.

The meeting also "took stock of the Forum's accomplishments, including the launch of the publicly accessible Network for Innovation and Harnessing Investments and Trade for Inclusive Growth between the United States and India (NIHIT) platform to facilitate online knowledge sharing and networking among US and Indian startups and small businesses", the US Commerce Department said in a statement.

"To date, NIHIT has organised four workshops to promote capacity building and skilling in cybersecurity, digital technologies, and AI, which have been attended by over 1,000 startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs," it added.

--IANS

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