Finance Minister Leads India-France Strategic Economic Dialogue

The Ministry of Finance has announced the commencement of an official four-day visit to France by the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs to participate in a series of bilateral engagements focused on advancing the India-France Strategic Partnership. The visit is aimed at expanding economic cooperation, strengthening financial collaboration, promoting investments, and encouraging innovation and technology partnerships between the two countries.

A major event during the visit is the India-France Economic & Financial Dialogue (EFD), which will be jointly conducted by the finance ministries of India and France in Aix-en-Provence. The dialogue is expected to focus on strengthening bilateral economic relations, identifying new areas of cooperation, and enhancing collaboration across finance, industry, investment, and other strategic sectors.

The official programme also includes interactions with leading global business executives and one-to-one meetings with multinational corporate leaders. These engagements are intended to highlight India's stable macroeconomic environment, ongoing structural reforms, investment-friendly policy framework, and long-term economic growth opportunities before the international business community.

As part of the visit, the finance minister will participate in a panel discussion at Les Rencontres Économiques d'Aix-en-Provence, a globally recognised economic and public policy forum. The session will examine strategies for supporting the growth of a new middle class while facilitating discussions among policymakers, economists, central bankers, business leaders, academics, and representatives of international institutions on emerging global economic issues.

The itinerary further includes a visit to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility at Cadarache, one of the world's largest multinational scientific collaborations focused on nuclear fusion energy, with participation from over 30 partner countries, including India and France.

Additionally, the delegation will visit Campus Cyber, France's national centre for cybersecurity innovation and digital resilience. The engagement is expected to support greater cooperation between India and France in cybersecurity, digital technologies, research, innovation, and future-oriented technological development.

The visit reflects continued efforts by both countries to deepen strategic economic engagement and strengthen cooperation in finance, investment, advanced technologies, scientific research, and digital security. (CASANSAAR)