Ø The Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India was held recently through a video conference due to the restrictions caused by the Pandemic. The summit comes in the wake of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI), which was announced by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi during the 14th East Asian Summit in 2019.
Ø The 2-day summit, was focused on how India and the countries of the Indo-Pacific region can boost their economic partnership, collaborate for sustainable use of maritime resources, future economic development, along with the idea of free trade will be stressed upon.
Ø A total of 21 countries have participated in the Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021, in which the participating countries account for US$ 40.6 billion of GDP. Participating counties also comprise 2.9 billion people and a 92 per cent business-to-GDP ratio.
Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative :
Ø On 4 November 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI) at the East Asia Summit. The IPOI seeks to ensure the security and stability of the regional maritime sector. The IPOI is an open, non-treaty based initiative for countries to work together for cooperative and collaborative solutions to common challenges in the region.
Ø The vast Indo-Pacific region comprises at least 38 countries, accounts for 44 per cent of the world surface area, is home to more than 64 per cent of the world population, and accounts for 62 per cent of global GDP with over 50 per cent of global trade passes through its waters. The region is highly heterogeneous with countries at different levels of development linked by a common thread of the ocean.
India’s current trade status in the Indo-Pacific :
– India’s trade with select Indo-Pacific economies stood at $262 billion (exports $129 billion, imports $133 billion) in 2020, compared to $33 billion (exports $20 billion, imports $13 billion) in 2001.
– The total share of India’s trade with select Indo-Pacific countries in 2020 was, with USA- (Export- 38 per cent, Import- 20 per cent), UAE (Export- 14 per cent, Import- 18 per cent), Singapore (Export- 6 per cent, imports – 9 per cent).
– For further increase in trade, India eyed on sectors such as infrastructure, logistics, digital transformation, startups, food and agriculture, clean energy, health care and life sciences in the Indo-Pacific Business Summit 2021
