Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday pitched for increasing collaboration between India and LAC countries in areas such as tourism, hospitality and promoting investment flows.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Region nations include Belize, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, Guyana, and Suriname.
He said huge opportunities are there in both regions to boost trade and investments.
Goyal also said that India and LAC countries need to come together so that their voice can become strong at global fora.
Addressing the CII India-Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) Region Conclave, he said India can contribute a lot in areas like healthcare and hospitality.
"There is a lot of scope for India and the LAC region to integrate in each other's supply chain," he said.
Citing a WTO dispute on sugar, Goyal said that India and the LAC countries need to build an atmosphere of trust to deal with such cases.
On a bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion by 2027-28 from the present about USD 50 billion, he called for looking at a much more ambitious target.
On India's free trade agreements, he said that India is negotiating these pacts with Canada, UK and the European Union.
"There are requests from Asian countries to engage and rapidly wrap up FTAs," he said, adding, "we need to work as a team and earn each other's trust".
He said that all the LAC members have different things like talent and mineral resources and "when we pool all this together and forge partnerships with each other, challenges of poverty and climate change" can be dealt with.
He added that both sides need to draw a roadmap for trade, and find ways to leverage this partnership for greater investment flows.
