Minister Piyush Goyal can be one of many co-chairs of the assembly. (File)

New Delhi:

The first ministerial stage assembly of India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) can be held on May 16 in Brussels to debate methods to extend cooperation in strategic applied sciences, digital connectivity, clear power, commerce and investments, an official assertion stated on Sunday.

Commerce and trade minister Piyush Goyal is likely one of the co-chairs together with exterior affairs minister S Jaishankar and Union minister of state for electronics and data expertise Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the commerce ministry stated in a press release.

The EU aspect is co-chaired by Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) Dombrovskis and Vestager.

It stated that three working teams beneath the mechanism will report on roadmaps for future cooperation between the 2 sides — Working Group on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity; Working Group on Green and Clean Energy Technologies; and Working Group on Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains.

“The first ministerial meeting will lay the roadmap for the cooperation under all three working groups and provide direction to achieve desired outcomes before the next ministerial meeting in the coming year,” it added.

During the excessive stage conferences with senior management of the European Union in addition to Belgium numerous points would come up for discussions and that embody ongoing negotiations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA), addressing problems with mutual market entry, reforms within the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The working group on commerce, funding and resilient worth chains is steered by the Department of Commerce and the primary assembly of the working group was co-chaired by commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal and Sabine Weyand, Director General for Trade, from respective sides.

The formation of the TTC was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission in New Delhi, in April, 2022 with the target of making a high-level coordination platform to deal with strategic challenges on the nexus of commerce, trusted expertise and safety.

The ministry stated that on May 15, Mr Goyal could have a bilateral assembly with EVP Dombrovskis adopted by stakeholder consultations within the presence of enterprise leaders of each the perimeters.

He would additionally take part in a gathering which might contain a dialogue over the financial footprint of Belgium enterprises in India together with additional plans of investments in India.

Besides, the three Indian ministers would additionally name on the Belgian prime minister in addition to the president of the European Commission.

On May 16, Mr Goyal will attend a stakeholder occasion for working teams 1 and a couple of. Group 1 focuses on digital governance and connectivity whereas Group 2 offers with clear and inexperienced power applied sciences.

He can even maintain a bilateral assembly with European Commissioner for Internal Trade Thierry Breton, whereby points pertaining to the SME sector, startup ecosystem and e-commerce can be deliberated upon.

India had began negotiations for a commerce pact with the EU in 2007 however the talks stalled in 2013 as each side failed to achieve an settlement on key points, together with customs duties on vehicles and spirits and the motion of execs.

India’s merchandise exports to EU member nations stood at about USD 65 billion in 2021-22, whereas imports aggregated at USD 51.4 billion.

In 2022-23, the exports aggregated at USD 67 billion, whereas imports stood at USD 54.4 billion within the final fiscal.

The EU accounts for 16.4 per cent share in India’s exports and about 8.3 per cent share in imports within the final monetary yr.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)