New Delhi, Sep 6 (FN Agency) India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) can add to India’s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia, said Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal here on Friday. Speaking at an industry event, the Minister said that the proposed corridor aims to integrate India, Europe, the Middle-East through UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the European Union. He noted that lower logistics cost, faster connectivity and secure movement of goods would depend on better cooperation in this area. The ambitious IMEC had been launched last year during India’s G20 presidency.
The Union Minister noted that initiatives like PLI (production linked incentive) scheme, efforts towards Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) through FTAs and economic partnerships have boosted India’s manufacturing growth story and nation’s efforts to promote agri-value chains can support the initiatives between India and Mediterranean countries. He suggested having a working group on tourism between the nations of the Mediterranean and India as there is a huge potential for cooperation and mutual benefit. He said that India offers a large market for the Mediterranean goods and services given the close connection both the nations have shared over the decades. Goyal further said that India and Mediterranean countries have huge common interest in the shipping sector adding that the government sees huge opportunity in developing ports and has doubled the port capacity in the last decade. “We hope to double the capacity of ports in the next five years,” he said.