India-Japan-Australia decide to launch resilient supply chain initiative in the Indo-Pacific region
NEW DELHI: India-Japan-Australia on Tuesday decided to launch an initiative to build a resilient supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region with an eye on creating a free and transparent trade & investment environment.
This was decided at a virtual meeting held on Tuesday comprising Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Simon Birmingham, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kajiyama Hiroshi.
Last month ET had first reported that India, Japan and Australia have begun discussions on launching a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) to reduce dependency on China, necessitated by Beijing’s aggressive political and military behaviour. The initiative, first proposed by Japan, is now taking shape.
“The Ministers reaffirmed their determination to take a lead in delivering a free, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment and in keeping their markets open,” according to a Joint Statement ‘Australia-India-Japan Economic Ministers’ Joint Statement on Supply Chain Resilience’, issued at the end of the meet.
“In light of the COVID-19 crisis and the recent global-scale changes in the economic and technological landscape, the Ministers underscored the necessity and potential to enhance the resiliency of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region,” the statement noted.
Recognizing the pressing need for regional cooperation on supply chain resilience in the IndoPacific, the Ministers shared their intention to work toward the launch of a new initiative to achieve the objective through cooperation, the statement announced.
The Ministers instructed their officials to promptly work out the details of the new initiative for its launch later this year. The Ministers noted the important role of business and academia in realizing the objective and called for other countries in the region, which share the afore-mentioned views, to participate in the initiative.
The Indian government had taken the call at the highest levels to become part of the global supply chain, thus emerging as an alternative to China. The subject was also one of the key themes of PM Modi’s Independence Day speech on Saturday, where he said that businesses have started viewing India as a possible “hub for supply chains” and that now India must also “make for the world”.