Medical devices, maritime cooperation common areas of interest with France: Goyal

New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that India and France can improve their engagement on common areas of interest such as renewable energy, defence cooperation, space, maritime cooperation, education and healthcare.

“We can create a dedicated France-India engagement,” Goyal said at a webinar organised by industry chambers ASSOCHAM & IFCCI, adding that the bilateral trade target of $15 billion by 2022 can be made more ambitious. Bilateral trade in FY20 was around $11 billion.

“Even on the auto side we have become competitive. Also, in pharma,” he said.


Goyal said that India and France are not in competition but complement each other and France brings high technology on the table while India has a lot to offer on services.

“Since March, we have not failed in any of our services sector obligation,” Goyal said.

India had announced a country-wide lockdown on March 25 in the wake of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been partly lifted.

The minister emphasised that India is setting new targets for manufacturing to become self-reliant and is also keen to become a trusted partner of international trade activity.