Context:
Recently, India participated in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial meeting held in Singapore.
Key highlights of the IPEF Ministerial meeting
- The IPEF Ministerial Statement of 14 November 2023 declared a substantial conclusion of negotiations for a Clean Economy, a Fair Economy, and the overarching Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
- India actively participated in the signing proceedings and the ministerial deliberations. However, India did not formally sign these agreements due to domestic approval processes still pending.
- The IPEF partners celebrated the progress of the IPEF Upskilling Initiative, launched in September 2022, to provide digital skills training to women and girls in emerging and middle-income IPEF countries.
- A new Cooperative Work Programme (CWP) led by India on “e-waste urban mining” was announced by the group.
• The operational launch of the IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund.
- The Fund’s founding supporters – Australia, Japan, Korea, and the United States – have made significant progress in their respective domestic processes to provide US $33 million of initial grant funding to catalyze up to US $3.3 billion in private investment.
- Substantial progress was made on the establishment of the three cooperative bodies under the Supply Chain Agreement, the Cooperative Work Programmes under the Clean Economy Agreement, and the cooperative activities under the Fair Economy Agreement.
Supply Chain Agreement
- IPEF Supply Chain Agreement entered into force in February 2024. Six IPEF partners – Fiji, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States – are now Parties to the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement.
IPEF Clean Economy Agreement
- It accelerates efforts of IPEF partners towards energy security and transition, climate resilience and adaptation, GHG emissions mitigation;
- It will facilitate investments, concessional financing, joint collaborative projects, workforce development and Technical Assistance and Capacity Building for industries, in particular MSMEs, to further integrate Indian companies in the value chains.
Cooperative Work Programme (CWP)
- The IPEF partners welcomed the announcement of the CWPs on hydrogen supply chains (in May 2023) and carbon markets, clean electricity, sustainable aviation fuel, and just transition (in March 2024).
- The IPEF partners have developed detailed roadmaps for cooperation and highlighted significant progress on a number of CWPs under discussion.
About Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)
- IPEF was launched in 2022 in Tokyo, Japan, comprising of 14 countries – Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the USA.
- It aims to strengthen economic engagement and cooperation among partner countries with the goal of advancing growth, economic stability and prosperity in the region.
• The framework is structured around four pillars:
- (Pillar I); Trade
- (Pillar II): Supply Chains
- (Pillar III): Clean Economy
- (Pillar IV): Fair Economy
India had joined Pillars II to IV of IPEF while maintaining an observer status in Pillar-I.