Following is the text of the Joint Ministerial Statement adopted during the Trilateral Ministerial Meeting on supply chain resilience held on 1.9.2020

“1. Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator the Honourable Simon Birmingham, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, His Excellency Piyush Goyal, and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, His Excellency Kajiyama Hiroshi held a ministerial video conference on September 1, 2020.

2. The Ministers reaffirmed their determination to take a lead in delivering a free, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment and in keeping their markets open.

3.   In light of the COVID-19 crisis and the recent global-scale changes in the economic and technological landscape, the Ministers underscored the necessity and potential to enhance the resiliency of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.

4.   Recognizing the pressing need for regional cooperation on supply chain resilience in the Indo- Pacific, the Ministers shared their intention to work toward the launch of a new initiative to achieve the objective through cooperation. They instructed their officials to promptly work out the details of the new initiative for its launch later this year. The Ministers noted the important role of business and academia in realizing the objective.

5.   The Ministers called for other countries in the region, which share the afore-mentioned views, to participate in the initiative.”

Supply chain resilience initiative strengthens Indo Pacific cooperation to enhance critical trade openness and invite regional participation. Supply chain resilience in the Indo Pacific is the primary policy objective, pursued through a new trilateral initiative between Australia, India and Japan to strengthen regional supply chains in response to COVID 19 and shifting economic and technological conditions, with officials instructed to promptly develop operational details for launch and with an emphasis on collaboration with business, academia and additional regional partners.