South-South collaboration can strengthen the foundation of future trade: Goyal

The Global South needs to discuss ways and means for countries to cooperate and act together to make our supply chains open, secure, trusted, stable, and equitable, thereby making them more resilient. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal was speaking at the 2^nd Voice of Global South Summit today.

Shri Goyal said that the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic, impact of climate change and raging geopolitical tensions have disrupted and underscored the fragility of global supply chains. These disruptions have created monumental challenges of food and energy security, cost of living and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. He said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has rightly pointed out that most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South, but they affect us more. Prime Minister has further underscored the need for our collective voice to be heard whenever and wherever the world looks for solutions, he added.

Shri Goyal pointed out that India successfully hosted the G 20 Summit in New Delhi in September, under the theme “one earth, one family and one future” with the support of the Global South. During its presidency, India made strong interventions in strengthening the voice of the global south including by making the African Union a permanent member of the grouping and by galvanising concrete action oriented, G 20 outcomes for the Global South, he said, adding that the African Union will now be a part of the G 20 permanently. It is necessary to make further efforts to strengthen the voice of the global south and to come together for our and humanity's future, he said.