New Delhi: United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal held delegation-level talks on Friday. A commercial dialogue was held and several Memorandums of Understanding were signed between India and the US.

In the joint statement after the delegation-level talks, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced the key themes of the commercial dialogue.

Several key and new emerging areas were focused on building, resilient and secure supply chains, diversifying the supply chains which are currently invoked facilitating climate and clean technology cooperation, inclusive digital growth, talent development including skilling the post-pandemic economic recovery, especially for small and medium enterprises, micro-enterprises and startups and a focus on cooperation and confirmation on quality standards.

One of the major outcomes of the commercial dialogue was the Memorandum of Understanding on establishing a semiconductor supply chain and Innovation Partnership under the framework of the India-US Commercial Dialogue.

"I am confident the new understanding of India and US in expanding mutual cooperation and ultimately ensuring resilience in the supply of semiconductors. Something which has had serious consequences to the economies of both countries, particularly in the Pandemic period," Union minister Piyush Goyal said.

"Various subjects were discussed at length. Both the US and India have recognized that small businesses and entrepreneurs are start-ups, ecosystems are the lifeblood of our economies and facilitating collaboration in both countries, fostering innovation between industry on both sides and universities on both sides will go a long way in furthering human progress," he added.

A new working group on talent, innovation and inclusive growth under the Commercial dialogue was launched which will further the cooperation on startups, SMEs, skill development and entrepreneurship.

"We have also relaunched the Travel and Tourism Working Group, which will create stronger linkages between both countries in the travel and tourism sector. We have launched standards cooperation programme phase three which will be carried out in partnership between the American National Standard Institute and the Bureau of Indian Standards to further standards cooperation," Goyal announced.

The US-India Energy Industry Administration (EIA) has been announced as a broad platform for facilitating industry involvement in the Clean Edge Asia Initiative, a US government signature initiative to grow sustainable and secure clean energy markets throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

"I'd like to thank Secretary Raimondo for her support to India's G20 presidency and her commitment to supporting India's presidency so that we can come out with substantive outcomes, particularly in trade, investment, sustainability, and in ensuring a better world for the future," Goyal said in the joint statement after the commercial dialogue.

In the afternoon, Raimondo will attend the US India CEO Forum, where she will lead a very high-level business delegation of top US companies, and CEOs of almost all the major top Indian companies who are members of the CEO Forum.

This afternoon she also visited a textile exhibition focusing on women and sustainability which is in honour of the Women's Day celebration on March 8 and will continue for a week where she was the principal guest and it was conceptualised to honour Raimondo's visit to India.