Hoping to work towards further expanding scope of India-Japan trade pact: Piyush Goyal
India and Japan are actively reassessing their trade agreement, with the goal of broadening its reach. Both countries are looking to create fresh avenues for enhancing their bilateral ties. Ongoing talks aim to modernize the deal, addressing specific challenges faced by Indian exporters in Japan while simultaneously bolstering their strategic alliance through significant investment initiatives.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussed reviewing the current trade pact with his Japanese counterpart on Wednesday, expressing hopes to expand its scope. The two nations implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in August 2011. During a summit-level talk in New Delhi last month, the Prime Ministers of both countries announced that it had been 15 years since the signing of CEPA, suggesting they should discuss the pact and make it more contemporary.
Goyal, who is on a four-day official visit to Japan from August 24, leads a large business delegation of over 200 representatives. He noted that the two-way commerce between the countries grew by 9.18 per cent to USD 27.47 billion in 2025-26, but the trade deficit increased to USD 15.4 billion. Goyal emphasized that the ministry supports industries facing challenges in exporting goods to Japan, offering assistance with process, language, and time-related issues.
Additionally, the export promotion mission scheme will facilitate micro and small businesses in meeting regulatory requirements, such as EU's REACH regulations for chemicals and pharma industry registrations worldwide, including Japan. Japan has pledged to invest 10 trillion yen in India over the next decade, and India has already received about Rs one lakh crore in investments from this target.
Written by urgent.news from The Economic Times - Economy's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
