India, Japan and Australia on Tuesday formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience initiative to avoid supply chain disruptions.
Trade ministers of the three countries- Piyush Goyal, Kajiyama Hiroshi, and Dan Tehan, met through video conferencing and affirmed their commitment to strengthen resilient supply chains.
Based on the consultations since September last year, the ministers noted the importance of risk management and continuity plans in order to avoid supply chain disruptions.
The SCRI aims to create a virtuous cycle of enhancing supply chain resilience with a view to eventually attaining strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the region, said the commerce ministry.
The ministers acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed supply chain vulnerabilities globally and in the region.
In a joint statement, they affirmed their commitment to strengthen resilient supply chains through policy measures such as supporting the enhanced utilization of digital technology; and supporting trade and investment diversification.
The ministers instructed their officials to implement the following as initial projects of SCRI and further develop the Initiative.
These include sharing of best practices on supply chain resilience and holding investment promotion events and buyer-seller matching events to provide opportunities for stakeholders to explore the possibility of diversification of their supply chains.
They decided to meet at least once a year to provide guidance to the implementation of the SCRI as well as to consult on how to develop the Initiative.
The Ministers agreed that expansion of the SCRI may be considered based on consensus, if needed, in due course.
