New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday held talks with Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul on strengthening economic relations between the two countries amid the changing dynamics in world trade triggered by the sharp hike in US tariffs. “Held a productive meeting with Mr Johann Wadephul, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Germany. Our discussions focussed on boosting bilateral trade and investment ties, while exploring new avenues of cooperation in innovation, sustainability, technology and other areas of mutual interest for shared growth and prosperity,” the Union Minister said in a post on X.

Goyal also said that he co-chaired a meeting with the business delegations from India and Germany along with Johann Wadephul. “We discussed strengthening trade facilitation, regulatory frameworks, and market access. We also explored avenues of collaboration in Defence, space, innovation and automobiles, underscoring the vast potential of our partnership,” Goyal added. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar said India and Germany will work towards doubling bilateral trade in the backdrop of significant and far-reaching changes in the global strategic landscape.

He also said that India would like the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union to move to a decisive conclusion soon. The India-EU bilateral trade has grown significantly over the past decade, reaching a record high of around $33.4 billion in 2024, he added. In a Press briefing with the visiting German Foreign Minister, the EAM said that in one of his earlier interviews, Wadephul had said that he was very confident that “we would be doubling our trade” with India.

“Let me assure him that India fully reciprocates that sentiment. We look forward to working with the German government towards this. I want to reiterate that we remain fully committed to continuously improving the Ease of Doing Business in this country. I assured the minister today that any concerns that German companies may have in India -- coming to India, establishing themselves, working here -- we would be prepared to give it special attention,” EAM Jaishankar stressed.

Wadephul said that India is Germany's key economic trading partner and more than 200 German companies are active in the country. He called India a "rising economic powerhouse" with a "special importance" on the global stage, reaffirming Berlin's full support for finalising the FTA between India and the European Union. Germany was the 8th-largest trading partner for India in 2024-25. It was India’s 12th-largest trading partner in 2023-24 and 11th-largest in 2022-23. Germany is the 9th-largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) in India, with a cumulative FDI of $15.11 billion from April 2000 to March 2025.