Services trade to boost Indo-US 'ever expanding' business ties: Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said that India and the US are "natural partners" and services trade will play a critical role in ever expanding business ties. The minister also said that the services sector holds a lot of promise in aiding India's economic recovery in the post Covid period.

"India and the US are working towards peace and stability across the world," he said addressing the '2nd Indo-US Services Summit', organised by Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC).

The services trade, Goyal said, will play a very important role in the two countries' ever expanding relations.


"India and the US are two natural partners and our relationship has stood the test of time due to shared values of equality, liberty and democracy," he added.

India is now moving beyond a "low-cost service provider" to a "high value added partner" and the back offices in India are evolving into brain offices, he noted adding that "our services exports are back to 97 per cent of the previous year".

The minister further said total services export from India to the world was USD 17 billion in 2001-02 and it has now leapfrogged to USD 205 billion in 2020-21, registering a 12-fold increase.

"When we talk of India-US partnership, we each have areas of strengths where we excel. The US is a hub of innovation, technology, research and quality education. India has skilled and intelligent manpower at competitive cost. Uniting our strengths will create an unbeatable combination," he stated.

Goyal further said that India is also rapidly progressing to become one of the world's largest digital markets.

Hospitality, Fintech, Agritech, Entertainment, Accountancy, Law, Cyber security, Healthcare and Tourism among others are some of the areas where India and the US can cooperate with mutual benefits, he added.