US President Trump’s visit to boost India-US socio-economic relations: Goyal

Mr. Goyal said on the economic front, having almost closed the last contours of the limited trade deal and with the announcement of a much larger trade deal in the offing, we have moved to a new level of engagement.

Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Govt of India, today said that US President Mr. Donald Trump’s visit will strengthen the India-US socio-economic relations further.

Speaking at the ‘Fireside Chat at US-India Forum: Partners for Growth’, organized by FICCI, jointly with USISPF and ORF, Mr. Goyal said, “Investment will be a natural corollary, of peace in the region & economic growth. India has a billion-plus people, aspiring for a better quality of life, providing a huge marketplace and a huge business opportunity.”

Mr. Goyal said on the economic front, having almost closed the last contours of the limited trade deal and with the announcement of a much larger trade deal in the offing, we have moved to a new level of engagement.

“On the strategic front, the partnership between India & the US will hold us in good stead as we move towards peace in this region, which is very important for economic growth. This engagement will help us on a variety of fronts. For us in India, in terms of our engagement with new technology and for the USA, India will become a big source for both talent & manufactured products,” added Mr. Goyal.

He further said, “I see $500 billion as a good trade benchmark to work with, while we are looking at expanding this relationship on a people to people level. India's demographic dividend can help serve American interests and the large American economy can provide low-cost capital, investments, and opportunities for our talent in a big way.”

He emphasized that India is poised to be amongst the top 3 economies of the world. “Five years from now, we want to make sure that poverty is completely eliminated from India and every home has a decent quality of life. That is the right of every child in this country,” he said.

Dr. Sangita Reddy, President of, FICCI while welcoming the Commerce & Industry minister said that the Indian healthcare system has a lot of potential models for the world as it is a closer linkage between the consumer & provider.

“Ayushman Bharat is truly a transformative step. It is a scheme which overlays on the current infrastructure of the country where 80% of the healthcare is delivered by the private sector,” she added.

Earlier during the day, speaking at ‘The Road to $5 Trillion: Next Steps in Growing Trade and investment between Two of World’s Largest Economies’, Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, DPIIT said that India has a major goal of reaching $5 trillion economies, out of which manufacturing should reach $1 trillion in a reasonably fast time. He also highlighted the need to increase the bilateral trade to target of $500 billion from the current level of $160 billion.

“Our policies are driven towards attracting more investments in India, particularly from the US in areas of manufacturing, environment management, energy management and IT,” added Dr. Mohapatra.

Mr. Pankaj Patel, Past President, FICCI and CMD, Zydus Cadila said that India has well-developed pharma companies and we need to have more innovations. He also emphasized the need for more joint efforts in the creation of additional facilities to ensure that the world has an abundant supply of essential medicines.

Dr. Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum said, “There is a strong convergence of security and geopolitical interests between the US and India across the Indo-Pacific region. From a trade perspective, the two governments have shown tremendous respect for each other’s interests and today the U.S is India’s largest trading partner.