The Meeting was chaired by Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Commerce of Thailand and attended by Trade Ministers of other member countries. The Ministers recognised that negotiations have reached a critical milestone as the deadline for the conclusion of negotiations draws near. The Ministers underscored that, successfully concluded, the RCEP will provide the much–needed stability and certainty to the market, which will in turn boost trade and investment in the region.

The Ministers noted the ratification of the ASEAN–India Trade in Services Agreement by all Parties in 2018. The Ministers also noted the on–going efforts for the ratification of the ASEAN–India Investment Agreement. The Ministers agreed to initiate the review of the ASEAN–India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make the AIFTA more user–friendly, simple, and trade facilitative for businesses and to constitute a Joint Committee, as provided in Article 17 of the AITIGA, for this purpose.

Singapore continued to be the top source of FDI at $5.3 billion, followed by Mauritius ($4.6 billion). Among sectors, telecommunications garnered the maximum FDI at $4.2 billion, followed by the services sector ($2.8 billion) . In the first quarter, June saw the highest inflows of $7.2 billion and May the least ($3.8 billion) . The National Capital Region (Delhi, part of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana) attracted FDI of $5.04 billion, the highest among the states.

As per the data from the RBI’s annual report, Total production of electronic goods in value terms more than doubled from $31.2 billion in FY15 to $$65.5 billion in FY19, led by mobile phones. Value of domestic manufacturing/assembly of mobile phones has jumped nearly eightfold from $3.1 billion in FY15 to $24.3 billion in FY19.

DPIIT will ensure recycling of plastic waste collected on 2 Oct. 2019 in cement kilns and collect plastic waste through nationwide shramdaan on 2 Oct. 2019. For this DPIIT has requested all the State Governments & UTs to mobilise & sensitize the Industrial Parks in States & UTs on Plastic Waste Management on a sustained and continuous basis.

Indian delegation was led by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri. He highlighted the prospects for the development of Indian business in Greece and the wider region of Southeast Europe to strengthen bilateral trade relations between the two countries. He added that Greece can become a European country–hub for Indian companies in various sectors.

The event was conducted by Smart Cities Mission, in partnership with Invest India and the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. The aim of the event was to bring forward the best technologies in four focus areas: Traffic & pollution management; Water, sanitation & solid waste management; Safety, surveillance & security and Social (health, education & citizen engagement).