Piyush Goyal to Make History with Meeting of Musk and POTUS – Tesla’s India Entry on the Table!
From November 13-17, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal has plans to travel to the US. His visit aims to participate in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meeting and he has also received an invitation to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco.
On the day of arrival, the minister is scheduled to meet Tesla chief Elon Musk, sources privy to the plans told ANI.
The meeting between Goyal and Musk highlights Tesla’s plans to penetrate India and manufacture more Tesla components in the country.
This meeting comes nearly four months after Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York and expressed interest in making significant investments in the country.
The Union Minister will also interact with two top US officials including US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai to strengthen the partnership between the two countries and strengthen trade and economic ties. The Minister of Trade also interacts with the ministers of other IPEF partner countries in connection with the IPEF ministerial meeting.
Goyal and Raimondo will also jointly attend a US-India Business Council (USIBC) event in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
“In this meeting, we will be talking to a number of companies, USIBC members, but also startups in the innovation space to discuss how to foster more unicorn startups between the US and India.” Atul USBC president Keshap told ANI.
APEC in San Francisco will see some of the world’s most influential leaders and business leaders come together, discuss vital issues and together shape the trajectory of a region that has enormous implications for global prosperity, stability and sustainability. The summit program emphasizes the potential of cooperation and fresh thinking for building the future by focusing on sustainable development, participation, sustainability and innovation.
This year’s summit also brings together 20 leading CEOs representing companies such as Microsoft Pfizer, Uber, Citibank, Fedex, Exxon Mobil Corp. to name a few, many of whom have deep financial interests in the Asia-Pacific region and China in particular.
“So for the United States to invite India to this APEC summit in San Francisco is a really big deal to me. India is not a member of APEC, although it applied for membership in 1991 when APEC was established. And I think this administration is really making a lot of effort to try to reach out to India to include it in our trade efforts around the world. Look at the Indo-Pacific economic framework,” the former diplomat said.
At this summit, Goyal will have a brief informal interaction with President Joe Biden and the former will also be part of the APEC group photo. Biden will also welcome other APEC leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Goyal also interacts with prominent businessmen and industry leaders.
US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Chairman and CEO, Dr. Mukesh Aghi, speaking on Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to the US, said, “Well, this is on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and APEC. USISPF is bringing US people to the event. tech companies from Alista chipmaking to cybersecurity and looking at how we can work together, how we can get some of these companies to come and invest in India. We’re also looking at Indian startups to see how we can bring them to the U.S. So it’s a two-way trade, it’s a two-way technology transfer. It is therefore the whole goal of the event organized with Minister Goyal.”
The United States and other partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region jointly launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) on 23 May 2022 in Tokyo. India joined IPEF and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the opening event along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and leaders of other partner countries.
IPEF aims to strengthen economic engagement between partner countries with the aim of promoting growth, peace and prosperity in the region. The framework is built around four trade-related pillars (Pillar I); supply chains (Pillar II); clean economy (Pillar III); and a fair economy (Pillar IV).
The meeting will focus on strengthening economic cooperation and improving flexibility, sustainability, inclusion, economic growth, fairness and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
India is committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and seeks to deepen economic cooperation between partners to promote growth and prosperity in the region. The framework is comprehensive and allows flexibility for partner countries to join the pillars based on their own priorities, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement.
During the visit, the Minister interacted with MNCs, the Indian diaspora, the startup community, including venture capitalists, and academia to promote the existing trade and investment relations between India and the US business community. The visit would focus on highlighting India’s attractiveness as a top investment destination.
Goyal will discuss the need and opportunities for closer industrial cooperation, further expand partnerships and create trade and investment links between priority areas.
The agenda also has a curated interaction with the startup ecosystem and the Indian diaspora, which would help strengthen and mentor their growth and expansion. The minister will also open two representative offices of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) in the United States.
Goyal is expected to interact with globally renowned technology, entrepreneurship and academic communities in the Bay Area, particularly Silicon Valley, to have targeted discussions with US companies looking to invest or expand in India in various sectors: electronics (including semiconductors), technology, fintech and more .
