India and the US have agreed to strengthen cooperation in sectors like pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals and emerging technologies, an official statement said on Friday.

The two countries also discussed collaborative opportunities in green and clean technologies; and strengthening partnership in critical technologies, the commerce ministry said.

These key areas emerged from the discussions during the meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at a review meeting of the India-US CEO Forum virtually last night.

"As both sides are focused on closer engagement based on trust, following key areas emerged from the discussions -- supply chain cooperation across pharma, semiconductors, critical minerals and energy; collaborative opportunities in green tech and scaling up manufacturing for clean tech; and strengthening partnership in critical and emerging technologies," it said.

Raimondo urged the CEO Forum to seize the current momentum and implement the pivotal recommendations outlined by the forum members.

She also announced the inclusion of four new members in the forum from the US industry including Honeywell, Pfizer, Kyndryl, and Viasat.

The Forum, comprising CEOs from leading Indian and US-based companies, is co-chaired by N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, and James Taiclet, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin.

This was the eighth meeting of the forum since its reconstitution in December 2014. It is a key advisory private sector body to India-US Commercial Dialogue, and it witnessed participation from 27 CEOs from both sides.

The next meeting will take place early next year.

Goyal encouraged the industry to leverage platforms like the Semiconductor Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership, Innovation Handshake, India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and Global Biofuels Alliance and explore collaborative opportunities.

He "acknowledged the contributions made by the Forum members which have guided the Government to undertake concrete reforms including doubling of export value threshold for courier customs clearance, inclusion of a separate chapter on e-commerce in Foreign Trade Policy," it added. PTI RR CS HVA

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