India is not living in isolation, says Piyush Goyal, as India-EU FTA and several trade pacts pave the way for German R&D

Speaking at an engagement with German research institutes during his visit to Germany, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal pitched India as a partner to co-develop, co-design, co-create, co-innovate and manufacture. He presented the India-EU free trade agreement and India's wide network of trade pacts as the base for a new chapter in research cooperation with Germany.

Goyal asked the institutes to work with Indian industry and academia to take research from the laboratory to the factory.

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"India today is not living in isolation, it today has opened its doors to global trade. India today has a plethora of trading arrangements with the world, opening ourselves to greater supply chain integration, open borders, free flow of goods and services and ideas, so that India can be a part of resilient global value chains. In all of this, we believe it'll have to be a partnership between researchers, academia, and industry. Government, at best, can play the role of a catalyst, but ultimately we'll have to get industry, academia, and research to really take this forward," Goyal said.

The minister praised the role German institutes play in turning research into products.

"We recognize that German institutes can add significant value when it comes to both research and applied research. The strength that Germany has displayed is the bridge from the laboratory to the factory...I have come here to engage with you, to learn from you, to learn the different bridges with which you have been able to connect research and industry...," he said.

Goyal said the India-EU FTA gives the partnership a fresh push. "With the deep, trusted partnership between Germany and India, and our institutions, and our people, our businesses, and the conclusion of the India-EU FTA, we have opened up a new chapter, and our partnership on R&D with each one of you. The research cooperation, which we envisage with Germany, can open up huge opportunities to co-develop, co-design, co-create, co-innovate, manufacture in India, meet the large market in India, with the plethora of free trade agreements that we have got into. Covering already two-thirds of global markets, and in the next year, year and a half, will cover 75 percent of global GDP," he said.

He ended with a direct invitation to the institutes. "Can you imagine German precision technology and engineering, Indian talent and affordable costs of manufacturing, serving the globe? That's the ambition that I have come to invite you to," Goyal said.

Goyal is in Germany from October 22 to 24 and will travel to the Netherlands from October 24 to 27, according to the Commerce Ministry. He is leading a delegation of around 100 businesses and startups. The ministry said the visit is meant to strengthen trade, investment and technology ties.