20-Apr-2023: 13th Joint Trade Committee meeting of India and Thailand held in New Delhi
The 13th Meeting of India Thailand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was held today in New Delhi. This was the first physical meeting of the JTC after it was revived in 2020, after 17 years.
Thailand is India’s important trading partner in ASEAN with total trade of USD 16.89 Billion in 2022-23. Thailand accounts for 13.6% of India’s total trade with ASEAN. Thailand is an important destination for India’s gems and jewellery, mechanical machinery, auto and auto components and agricultural products especially marine products.
Reviewing the status of bilateral trade and each partner’s modest share in other’s global imports, the chairs emphasised the need for identifying new potential products and priority sectors for expanding the bilateral trade. Both sides also discussed various market access issues and technical barriers faced by their exporters and agreed to resolve the same through regular and sustained bilateral discussions. India raised the restriction faced in its export of marine, poultry and meat products.
Both sides identified a range of potential commodities and sectors for strengthened partnership such as value added marine products, smartphones, Electric vehicles, food processing and pharmaceuticals. The countries also agreed that there is huge scope in collaboration in the Service Sector and agreed to explore establishing mutual recognition/cooperation arrangements in Nursing, Accounting, Audio Visual and Medical Tourism.
The meeting also reviewed the progress of the ongoing efforts on connecting Unified Payment Interface (UPI) of India with Prompt Pay Service of Thailand and the settlement of trade transactions in local currency.
19-Apr-2023: India-UK 2nd Financial Markets Dialogue: Joint Statement
India and the UK held the second meeting of the India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue in London today. Both sides welcomed holding the first in-person financial dialogue since 2017.
The Dialogue was led by senior officials from the Indian Ministry of Finance and HM Treasury, with participation from Indian and UK independent regulatory agencies, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority. Delegates from India and the UK shared views on issues in their respective areas of responsibility and possibilities of collaboration in evolving fields of financial regulation.
14-Apr-2023: 12th Session of India-Spain Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation in New Delhi
Commerce Secretary, Shri Sunil Barthwal, and Ms. Xiana Mendez, Secretary of State for Trade, Government of Spain co-chaired the 12th Session of India-Spain Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC) on 13th April, 2023 in New Delhi. Both sides celebrated this Golden Jubilee edition of India-Spain Joint Commission mechanism which was established in 1972. During the past 50 years, a remarkable enhancement of bilateral trade and investment has taken place. With an investment of USD 3.7 Bn, 250 Spanish Companies are active in India and 40 Indian Companies are present in Spain working in different sectors such as IT, Pharma, Renewable Energy, Automobiles, Infrastructure etc.
Ms. Xiana emphasised the importance of India-Spain relationship and the Spanish partnership in India’s development stories. Spanish side has reaffirmed the further cooperation in the various sectors including in the field of Civil Aviation such as Automation, Surveillance and NavAids, High Speed Railways, Railways networking, Signalling, Traffic management etc.
Both sides also agreed for further cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy, Shipping, Ports, Tourism, Infrastructure, Food Processing, Pharmaceuticals, Technology, Innovation, and Defence sector.
The status of various MOUs were also reviewed including those of important interest for bilateral relations such as MOUs on Migration and Mobility, Agreement on Social Security, Cyber Security etc.
Both sides also discussed various Market Access Issues faced by their exporters and agreed to resolve the same through bilateral discussions.
India and Spain are looking forward to a considerable progress in the ongoing India-EU FTA Negotiations during the upcoming Spanish Presidency of EU from July to December, 2023.
The Spanish side congratulated India on the excellent progress of the Indian presidency of the G20 so far and offered its support and cooperation for the success of G-20 TIWG.