Dear Sir/Madam,
As you might have aware that India is a member of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
It is a 14-country plurilateral grouping aim to promoting economic growth and cooperation in the entire region.
This framework is structured around four pillars and India is part of Pillars II-IV
The member countries of IPEF include Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the USA.
India is a signatory to Supply Chain Resilience Agreement (Pillar-II) which is in force since February 24, 2024. The Agreement, which is a first-of-its-kind pact, envisages collaboration for a resilient supply chain ecosystem in sectors which are important for an IPEF partner from the perspective of national security, public health, food security, safety of citizens and economic stability.
The idea is to find solutions through concerted approach and efforts by the IPEF partners. Lack of self-sufficiency and dependence of imports over a reasonable limit in certain segments bring vulnerability to the supply chain ecosystem and causes supply chain disruption.
Therefore, it becomes important to identify and address supply chain concentration and vulnerabilities before they become bottlenecks. This agreement is aim to improve government-industry coordination to minimize disruptions and vulnerabilities in those important sectors /goods.
Considering the demand for various goods, their production and the import trends, the Centre for WTO Studies (a Ministry of Commerce and Industry organization) has identified Chemical is one of the important sectors from the perspective of national security and economic stability.
The Chemicals commodity profile also matches with the other factors mentioned in the Agreement such as : (i) high level of dependence on a single supplier/country/region/geographic location; (ii) low availability and reliability of alternative suppliers’/supply locations; (iii) significant imports required to meet domestic demand; (iv) lack of availability of adequate domestic production capacity; (v) great extent of interconnectedness with other critical sectors and goods; and (vi) challenges on account of actual or potential transport constraints.
In view of above we request members to share their inputs (Note) on following pointer to ad.del@chemexcil.in with copy to pw@chemexcil.in; dg@chemexcil.in on or before 9th August 2024.
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Import Data on critical chemical imports from these countries with value and volume.
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Domestic production Capacity.
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List of chemical products for national security.
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Issues related to supply chain within IPEF and probable solution.
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Suggestions for policies to enhance domestic production and reduce dependence on such high import Chemicals.
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Diversification of high Chemical imports
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Any investment proposal to be proposed for these countries.
Thanks and Regards
Raghuveer Kini
Director General
CHEMEXCIL