NEW DELHI: India on Sunday signed up to join the clean- and fair economy components, and the overarching agreement of Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), at Delaware in the US, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a 3-day visit to the country for the Quad Summit.
With Sunday’s signing, India has formally joined all the legs of the framework which it had agreed to.
India, however, has decided not to join the Pillar I of the framework that deals with trade. India has opted for observer status in the trade talks.
The clean economy is Pillar III and the fair economy is Pillar IV of IPEF. India has already signed Pillar II of IPEF that deals with supply chain. The supply chain agreement entered into force in February. Other members of the 14-member IPEF had signed the agreement on pillars III and IV and an overarching agreement on IPEF in June at the ministerial meeting in Singapore. India could not sign the agreements at that time as it was in the midst of general elections and domestic approval processes could not be completed in time.
IPEF was launched in 2022 in Tokyo. It has 14 countries – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and USA – as members.
The IPEF partners represent 40 percent of world GDP and 28 percent of global goods and services trade
The agreement on clean energy intends to accelerate efforts of IPEF partners towards energy security and transition, climate resilience and adaptation, greenhouse gases emissions mitigation; develop innovative ways of reducing dependence on fossil fuel energy and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies.
The clean energy pact will facilitate investments, project financing including concessional financing, joint collaborative projects, workforce development and Technical Assistance and Capacity Building for industries, in particular for the MSMEs, and facilitate further integration of Indian companies in the global value chains, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, a commerce ministry statement said. These activities will be undertaken through joint collaborative actions such as Cooperative Work Programmes, the IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund, the IPEF Accelerator.
Agreement on Fair Economy seeks to create a more transparent and predictable business environment, promote level playing field for businesses, enhance efforts to prevent and combat corruption, establish confidential systems, improve tax transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
“It focuses on enhancing information sharing among partners, facilitating asset recovery, and strengthening cross-border investigations and prosecutions. This will also support India’s efforts in fighting corruption, money laundering, and terror financing,” the statement said.
The Overarching Agreement is an administrative agreement establishing an oversight Ministerial-level mechanism over the various individual IPEF agreements while setting general guidance and goals. This Agreement primarily includes administrative and institutional provisions.
“This agreement would provide identity to the group and longevity to the IPEF partnership, by creating a formal mechanism and establishing a forum for Ministerial discussions on emerging issues. This agreement is expected to facilitate the effective implementation of subject agreements,” the commerce ministry said.
Source: The Financial Express
Corporate Card Use For Personal Expenses On Rise To Bypass Rules 