India, Spain to strengthen industrial partnerships, build resilient supply chains
New Delhi, July 14
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met Jordi Hereu, Minister of Industry and Tourism of Spain, and explored new opportunities to strengthen India-Spain collaboration in trade, investment, manufacturing, innovation, tourism and other future-ready sectors that drive growth, competitiveness and job creation.
"We also exchanged views on the India-EU FTA and reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening industrial partnerships, building resilient supply chains and deepening economic cooperation for the mutual benefit of both nations," Goyal said.
He earlier said that India and Spain should look at increasing their bilateral trade and investments 10 times in the next 10 years. Goyal said that advanced manufacturing, mobility, railways, sustainability, innovation, arts, science, and culture are some of the areas of greater collaboration between India and Spain.
"Delighted to deliver the keynote address at the India-Spain Business Forum. Underlined the need for encouraging the free flow of goods and services between India and Spain to achieve exponential growth in our trade and investment ties," said Goyal.
He suggested four ways to achieve this target - invest deeper and wider into each other's future; leverage all opportunities opening up with the India-EU FTA; look at connecting tourism and talent; and further strengthen government-to-government relations.
The minister said that immense opportunities await India and the EU with the operationalisation of the India-EU FTA. "This is perhaps the only free trade agreement that Europe has finalised without any criticism from any of the member states. The 27 member states completely aligned in this partnership with India, as are businesses in India - not a murmur of dissent or dissatisfaction back home in India," Goyal told businesses and leaders in Madrid.
The EU and India collectively represent nearly 30 per cent of the global trade and global economy, with the potential to take it to much higher levels in terms of engagement in trade, business, investments, exchanges in culture, education, tourism, technology, space and defence.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Finally some good news on the trade front! The India-EU FTA without criticism from any member state is a big deal. Remember how long it took with other countries? Goyal ji seems to be doing smart diplomacy - focusing on tourism and talent exchange is a smart way to build people-to-people connections first.
As someone working in supply chain management, I can say this is much needed. Post-COVID, we saw how fragile global supply chains were. Building resilient ones with Spain makes sense - they have strong infrastructure and we have the manufacturing capacity. Just hope the benefits reach smaller players too.
Interesting timing with the EU's recent focus on de-risking from China. India could become a key manufacturing hub for Spanish companies looking for alternatives. But let's be honest - our labor laws and ease of doing business still need improvement. Hope this partnership pushes those reforms faster.
The mention of space and defense collaboration is very promising! Spain has good expertise in satellite technology and renewable energy. But I hope this isn't just another photo-op announcement. We've seen many MOUs signed but not enough implemented on ground. Let's track the progress!
Great to see India expanding its European partnerships beyond the usual UK and Germany. Spain has so much to offer in tourism and renewable energy. And the fact that all 27 EU member states agreed on the FTA shows India's growing global standing. But we need to address our agricultural concerns in any FTA.
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