India-Brunei Hold Third Joint Trade Committee Meeting

The third meeting of the India-Brunei Darussalam Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was convened to take stock of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and to find ways of deepening commercial ties. The committee is the standing bilateral mechanism through which the two governments review commerce, and this round set out a clear agenda for the period ahead.

Who led the talks

The meeting was co-chaired by Amit Verma, Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on the Indian side, and Dr May Fa'ezah Ahmad Ariffin, Permanent Secretary (Economy and Trade) in Brunei Darussalam's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Officials from the relevant ministries, departments and organisations of both countries joined the discussions.

What was discussed

• Expanding bilateral trade, and addressing the market access priorities each side raised.
• Institutional mechanisms to make business-to-business exchanges easier.
• Easing exports of agricultural and animal products from India to Brunei Darussalam, with an eye on food security and on widening the trade basket.
• Cooperation in tourism, participation in trade fairs and exhibitions, and reciprocal business delegations.

Sectors marked out

Pharmaceuticals, healthcare and energy were identified as the key areas for further work. On the first two, the two sides looked at regulatory collaboration, procurement and healthcare services, recognising how much room there is for greater engagement. On energy, the talks covered both traditional and emerging partnerships meant to support steady industrial growth. The two delegations also held that targeted trade promotion events and visiting business delegations could surface investment opportunities in manufacturing, infrastructure and services, and that stronger people-to-people ties and commercial outreach would help.

What happens next

Both sides reaffirmed that the nodal agencies and working groups concerned would stay in regular touch to track follow-up action and carry forward the trade and investment objectives settled at the meeting. The next meeting of the Joint Trade Committee will be held in Brunei Darussalam, which is the point an examiner is most likely to ask about along with the edition number and the co-chairs.